


Legacy

by CrystalRebellion



Category: Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)
Genre: A good father, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Lost Time, Lotor has a daughter, Lotor is a father, Magic, rekindling friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-07-01 18:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 57,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15779448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalRebellion/pseuds/CrystalRebellion
Summary: Decades in the future, Lotor is wrapped in a political marriage with Queen Merla, but animosity runs high.  When his daughter is in danger, Lotor finds himself needing the assistance of someone he has not seen in ages. (Lotor x Allura)





	1. Spark

"Father, look!"

Lotor glanced over to the young Drule dancing across the floor. Tarla was nearly eight, but she was vaulting, fencing and debating like a grandmaster. She posed, pleased, after a successful back handspring. He applauded her politely.

"Very well done, Tarla. At this rate, you will defeat many warriors in combat," he said. He felt a swell of pride for her aptitude. His child was magnificent.

"I can fight, too!" The small Drule punched at thin air, arousing a smile from her father. "I shall conquer many planets; I will make our Empire proud!"

He tossed his head back and laughed deeply.

"Yes, my darling, you shall," he promised, embracing the young girl.

Her hair was silver like many Drules, but it held a hint of pink from her mother. It shimmered nearly-iridescent in the artificial light as she posed happily before the Ruler of the entire Drule Empire. He felt a strange warmth in his chest he had never experienced before. Pride fired his passion, but for once it was for another entity and not himself.

He continued to watch as his daughter bounced around the large study, performing gymnastic feats on the plush carpeting before he sat back down in the hefty chair behind his mahogany desk. The stack of paperwork in front of him wasn't getting any smaller.

The marriage arrangement with Queen Merla had not come without its drawbacks. While it was an enormous boon to unite both Empires under one reign and sovereign house, it did complicate some matters politically.

Zarkon's unexpected abdication had set into motion a strange chain of events from which effects still rippled out twenty years later. Nearly all conquering and invading had ceased as the Empire scrambled to get Lotor crowned before anyone else dared lay claim. Within two days, the castle had managed to throw together a rudimentary coronation. It lacked most of the finery that Lotor would have preferred, but the political push was more important.

_Perhaps that was my first indication I was ready for this,_  he reminisced.  _That was the very first time Crown came before Self._  His lips pursed slightly and he glanced to the antique mirror hanging on the wall across from his desk.

In many ways, twenty years had hardly changed the rugged Drule physically. His cheekbone was still as chiseled and his jaw still as tense. In other ways, he barely recognized the face looking back at him. He had always wanted to rule the Empire and even attempted to take it by force with several failed assassination attempts on his father. Having the entirety of his people thrust into his care had made him realize that there was more to ruling than conquering and celebrating. It was taxing, tiring and politically exhausting to do it properly.

Within the same week of the abdication and coronation, Zarkon's failing health had become public. He still remembered watching the old man on his deathbed, eyes half closed, lips half-parted as he struggled to breathe. Lotor could still hear the painful wheeze in his mind. The memory continued to haunt him, decades past. 

_How did I not know,_  he thought. The moment when Zarkon took his last breath was the first and last time the ancient king had ever shown any weakness or frailty. He had clung to the throne proudly and defied death until his very last days. The illness had surprised everyone - except Zarkon's personal physician, from whom he had bid silence.

"Careful, Tarla," he warned, snapped from his trance as the feisty heiress somersaulted across the carpet. He leaped from the desk to catch the child before she careened into one of his heavy bookshelves. His arms caught her abdomen and pulled her away before she collided with the heavy furniture. He whisked her into the air, eliciting giggles of delight from the girl. Never in his life had he felt more protective of another individual. He understood now why there had been reports of Drule warriors who allegedly ripped the limbs off a thief attempting to break into their domicile: their children had been home.

He glanced down as Tarla wiggled in his arms and he set the child back on her feet carefully. He could easily see himself doing the same to anyone who ever dared lay a hand on her. Drules weren't particularly renowned for their gentle nature, and anyone coming between a parent and a child was liable to experience a fate worse than death.

"Mother!"

Lotor glanced up from his daughter as Queen Merla strolled into the office regally. Her hair was wound elegantly in her usual tightly-braided coil atop her head, the tail swishing behind her with each stride.

"Now Tarla, we've talked about this. What's the proper way to greet a queen?" Her cold eyes glanced down to her daughter. Tarla stopped and sighed. She straightened her back and folded one hand across her waist in front of her, the other laying across her back. She bent forward in a near-perfect bow before the woman.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," she said. Lotor felt an annoyed exhale leave his chest as he watched the exchange between mother and child. Merla nodded once and patted the girl on the head.

"That's a good girl," she acknowledged her as Tarla straightened from her bow before fixing her husband with a look. Lotor scowled back. After a moment the serpent queen glanced to Tarla.

"Why don't you run along and play, Mommy and Daddy need to talk." Lotor groaned inwardly.

"I'll see you later, Tarla," he said as she left the office dejectedly. He eased himself into the chair behind his desk again and made no effort to hide his displeasure.

"What," she snapped at him as she pulled a chair up to sit across from him.

"You treat her like a servant, not a princess," he commented, crossing his arms over his chest. His jaw ticked when Merla leaned back in her chair and kicked her high heels atop his desk.

"And I'm the queen," she commented dryly, her violet-colored lips curling into a smile. "I don't treat her like a servant – she doesn't fetch things for me or polish my boots."

"You're cold to her."

"You're one to talk. Is King Lotor getting a case of the fuzzies now?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"What did you wish to discuss," he redirected the conversation pointedly.

"Remember a few years back when those riots broke out in the Vega system? They're rioting again. How do you want to handle it this time?"

Lotor just cursed in response under his breath.

"They're your people, how would  _you_  like it handled?"

" _Our_  people now, need I remind you, darling husband? We both have a share in this," she snapped at him.

"And your share seems to have been continually causing problems for everyone else involved." He trailed off, sighing and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What do they want this time," he asked with resignation. Getting into another fight with Merla wouldn't solve the crisis looming on the horizon.

Their wedding had been a formal, political maneuver. Neither had been particularly interested in the courtship, but neither could they deny the appeal. As Merla had pointed out; Lotor wasn't getting anywhere with the princess of Arus. Once Zarkon had passed away, Merla had been quick to move in and propose an alliance through marriage. It took the better part of a year for him to agree. They had tried betrothal once before but quickly annulled the vows when they couldn't stand each other's company. Lotor couldn't fathom what made him think he could tolerate her now.

His second wedding had been the last time he had seen Allura. Nearly nineteen years had passed since she had accepted the invitation with the rest of the entire galaxy. He still remembered her standing quietly in the back, watching the ceremony with an unreadable expression on her face. The entire procession had been lavish and showy. All the planets had been invited - Human, Drule and everyone in between.

His one regret was not finding a moment of freedom from the rituals and rites to speak with her. The fair princess had left before the ceremony concluded and the expression on her face haunted him to the day.

He glanced to his inkwell. Right next to it, never out of his immediate sight, sat a pure gold lion statuette. It was a perfect miniature recreation of the statue in front of the Castle of Lions. Her wedding gift had been unmarked, save his name written in an elegant script on the tag. On the bottom of the small ornament, the phrase _Auŗos_ was carved into the gold. A little research revealed the word meant 'For Peace' in Old Arusian.

"Something about fair wages now that they aren't slaves, or something like that," she said dismissively. "You'll handle it, right? We need to shut this protest down quickly before the rest of the planets follow suit."

"They're your constituents, Merla," he said, blinking as his mind returned to the present time. The little statue always had a way of triggering nostalgic and even painful memories for him. Sometimes he thought he kept it near as punishment or a reminder for what he lost. At other times, he wondered if he was afraid he would somehow forget  _her_.

"Yes, yes, but what the hell am I going to say to them?"

"They're your damn people," he snapped back, growing irritated.

"But they listen to you," she insisted.

"...that's because I'm the only one speaking to them," he said through clenched teeth. "They would listen to you if you didn't ignore them."

"They used to be slaves, now they're free, what do I care what they want?"

Lotor just exhaled and rested his face in his palm. He wondered vaguely if that was how he had sounded to his father in his youth.

"I'll deal with it," he ground out, eager to get the woman out of his study before he completely lost his temper altogether. He tolerated Merla purely for Tarla. His daughter was his pride and joy and he would move mountains for her – including stomaching Merla's incessant irritation.

"Excellent!" She clapped her hands together and swung her feet off the top of his desk. Her heel caught his inkwell and some of the papers he had set aside, flinging them all to the floor in a flourish. He snarled out a cry as he lunged to catch the tiny gold lion caught in the line of fire.

"Be. Careful," he growled dangerously at her as he returned it back to his desk. He stared dangerously at the queen as the spilled inkwell bled unheeded over the carpet, his concern centered entirely on the small statue.

"You still have that stupid thing?" Merla's eyes widened at the lethality she read on Lotor's face. "Alright, I'm leaving, whatever. I'm going out tonight, don't wait up," she said sarcastically. The two could hardly stand to be in the same room with each other: the three times they had shared a bed had been a violent struggle for power. Neither had been engaged in the act for pleasure - only to dominate the other. Once Merla was with child, all activity had blessedly ceased. An heir was conceived and their duty to each other completed.

He didn't exhale the breath he was holding until the door swung closed behind her. He let his forehead come to rest in the palm of his hand, elbow propped on the hardwood desktop. He continued to sit in the chair, face in palm, as the ink seeped into the expensive flooring. He didn't care. Lotor looked to the tiny lion staring back at him. Everything that mattered was safe.

* * *

"Why does Mother dislike me? I've only ever tried to please her," Tarla asked her father. Lotor sat next to his daughter in the spectator seats of the Arena. A glorious battle between a six-armed beetle and a snake-like humanoid was going on below, but both of the royals seemed preoccupied with their thoughts.

"She doesn't dislike you, Tarla," he said, turning to look at the girl sitting on the throne next to him.

"She does though; I see it in her eyes. At least - she doesn't like me," she conceded. Lotor's lips pursed. He had known it would be only a matter of time before she had grown old enough to see the distance from her mother.

"Merla is a complicated woman," he lied. "She comes across cold, like most Drules." Tarla just quirked an eyebrow at her father.

"Do you love her?"

The unexpected question surprised the king.

"Why do you ask that?"

Tarla shrugged in response before answering.

"I just… I was reading some stuff in the library the other day," she explained. Her hands clasped tightly together in her lap. She wore black pants, small boots and a blue and black tunic. When she had been very young, she had been dressed in gowns and other finery, but with time, she had articulated a preference for pants.

"What did you find?" Lotor glanced up suddenly as the crash of metal sounded from the arena. The serpent had impaled the other warrior on a spiked limb, cracking the bug-like shell in the process. The wounded creature bellowed loudly and thrashed as it fought back. Tarla cheered loudly from her chair with the rest of the stadium.

"I found a book on humans, like from Earth," she explained, still eagerly watching, as the battle grew more vicious. "They're very different from us, aren't they?" Lotor studied his daughter's profile for a moment before looking back to the carnage.

"In some ways. In others, they're very similar," he said carefully. He contemplated his words warily before answering her prior question. "I've only ever loved one woman in my life, Tarla," he admitted. "And now you, too." He glanced back to her and smiled.

"So you  _do_  love Mother!" Her expression shifted to awe and Lotor only smirked in response. He looked away from her again, his lips still curled up arrogantly.

"I never said that," he murmured, more to himself than his daughter, a haunted look etched deeply into his features.

Tarla watched him curiously for a moment, but when he didn't elaborate further, she dropped the subject. Her eyes returned to the arena as the snake-like combatant was announced the champion.

"Come, let's go to dinner," he said, rising and beckoning the young princess to do the same. She obliged and followed him as he made his way back to the castle.

* * *

**_Five Years Later_ **

The explosion that rocked the castle sent the servants scurrying through the halls in a frantic, panicked state. Lotor burst from his study and looked around wildly.

" _Tarla!_ " He bellowed at the top of his lungs before breaking into a dead run. "Where are you?" He glanced into each room he went by as he sprinted down the corridor. He knew he was going in the right direction as he passed the fleeing staff.

He banked around a corner and felt his breath catch in his lungs. The library double doors were open and smoke poured out. Rushing inside, he found an inferno. Stacks of books, shelves, tables and chairs were aflame, the fire roaring as it devoured the wood-based materials.

He glanced around feverishly before he found what he was looking for.

"Tarla," he whispered, rushing to where the young princess was slumped against a wall. He scooped his daughter into his arms and quickly carried her out of the library just as guards rushed to the scene with water and extinguishers.

"Get it out, contain it!" He snapped at them before ducking down the hallway, cradling the teenage Drule against his chest. He sprinted toward the medical facilities and didn't slow until she was safely passed into a doctor's care.

"What happened?" The doctor laid the unconscious girl down on the examination table before beginning to look over her. Lotor's panicked eyes never left Tarla's body.

"I don't know yet," he murmured tensely. "There was an explosion, and the library was on fire when I found her. How is she?"

"Just unconscious," the doctor responded after a moment. "The explosion probably did it – whatever caused it. She seems to be breathing fine," he mentioned, listening to the air in her lungs with a stethoscope. "Likely minimal smoke inhalation if any at all. No burns. She'll have some slight bruising," he finished his examination. "Let her rest, she should wake soon." He patted the young princess' hand before looking back to her father as he exhaled in relief.

"She'll be fine?" Lotor's voice strained as he looked over her. Tarla's light purple skin was paler than usual and her rare iridescent hair was singed at the edges, but she looked otherwise safe.

"She'll be fine," the doctor repeated comfortingly. Lotor glanced from his daughter to the door, then back to his daughter before cursing under his breath.

"I need to go investigate that explosion and make sure our defenses weren't breached somehow," he muttered. He wanted to stay near her while she rested but with the entire castle - perhaps planet - in potential danger, he knew he needed to investigate the source of the destruction.

"Of course, Sire," the doctor nodded. "I will watch over her."

With one last look over the sleeping princess, Lotor turned and left the medic's office.

* * *

Lotor frowned. The flames had been extinguished, but at least half the library had been destroyed by the fire. Pieces of tables and chairs were scattered across the floor. Bookcases were scorched beyond recognition and the smell of soaking wet books mingled with the lingering smoke. Two guards stood behind him in the doorway, ready to be dispatched with orders at a moment's notice while the king surveyed the wreckage.

"Sire," one spoke up. "We could find no trace of an exterior element - it appears to have originated from inside this room. Perhaps whatever caused the explosion then triggered the fire," the guard suggested.

Lotor paced uneasily. It was a massive shockwave and he could tell precisely where it originated from. Deep gouges were ground into the marble floor where the tables and chairs - and incidentally, his daughter - were flung away from the origin.

"Could an enemy have planted an explosive device in this room? Why this room? Why  _here_? The throne room would have caused more damage and destruction. ...Unless someone is targeting my daughter." His eyes swiveled to look to the guards. Both men shifted uncomfortably under the brutally lethal look their ruler was giving them.

"Sire...?"

"Is it possible someone is trying to harm Tarla?" His voice was low and controlled, articulating each word slowly. The two guards glanced between each other. King Lotor was not nearly as prone to violent outbursts as he had been in his youth, but the malevolence in his voice did not go unnoticed.

"It's... possible, yes, Sire. By whom, or why, I cannot speculate at this time without more research. Shall I look into it?"

"Yes, and make sure Tarla has at least one guard near her at all times until we know exactly what happened."

"Yes, your highness," both guards said in unison, bowing before the king before leaving the room. Lotor turned back to survey the desecrated library. He shook his head once. If someone had broken into the castle and managed to trigger an explosion near his daughter, they were gone now and there was no trace of the origin.

When he found out who it was, there would be hell to pay.

He snorted and left the room, easing the warped and damaged doors closed carefully. He wanted to preserve the room as best he could until he got to the bottom of it all. As it stood, only one person was a potential witness. Once satisfied the room was secure, he turned and made his way back to the infirmary.

He needed Tarla's account of what happened.


	2. Charge

Castle Doom was experiencing an unusually high level of tension. Tarla had been unable to recall any explanation or account of the explosion, and with no further information, the king was on edge. He stayed near his daughter's side as often as possible, and the young princess found herself courted by guards in the interim.

"Any reports?" Lotor murmured under his breath to his general. The older man shook his head once, his jaw tight.

"No, Sire. No threats, no signs of any intrusion, we've been unable to find out who, or what slipped past the walls. Or how they did it. And we certainly don't know why. We can only speculate so much," he finished grimly. Cossack had refined himself over the course of the years. He hadn't lost his sense of humor, though his unusually serious side demonstrated itself through the unsettling situation.

"Your thoughts?" Lotor continued to speak with one of his closest security personnel, though his eyes never left his rebellious daughter as she glared at the overprotective men. Her foot tapped impatiently, and the king could tell she was trying to plot a means to escape them. Tarla hadn't taken kindly to the sudden increase in supervision over the last few days.

"If someone were targeting her, specifically," he murmured just loud enough for the king's ears alone. "Harm wouldn't be their goal. There would be nothing for anyone to gain from removing her from the picture. Kidnap and ransom, of course. But this was a very dangerous maneuver for something like that. I originally suspected something faulty within the castle itself – such as wires or motors, but we couldn't find anything defective or malfunctioned. I just… I don't know, Sire." He glanced to his ruler out of the corner of his eye.

Lotor's lips pressed into a thin line. He could easily deal with insubordination. He could handle a riot, or even an invasion. What frustrated him beyond all comprehension and put him on edge was that he couldn't name his enemy or the motive. He looked to Cossack and just shook his head once.

"Keep it up, keep at it. They'll try again and be intercepted or we'll find something eventually."

"Yes, Sire." Cossack bowed and Lotor nodded once, turning back to the center of the room. He let out a loud curse as he realized his daughter was gone and the window was open. In the split second that he and Cossack had exchanged looks, Tarla had made her escape. He pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. The general was already running out the door after the princess before the king uttered an irritated 'Find her…'

* * *

Cossack sat on the edge of one of the precipices rimming the castle. In earlier years, turrets and defensive weaponry had been housed there, but with a quiet peace settling over the Empire, some of the machines had been retired. As they grew too old to function, they had simply not been replaced.

His eyes narrowed as he watched the willful princess run at full speed across the surface of the planet. She seemed content to play outside and away from the prying eyes of her keepers. As far as Cossack could be sure, Tarla hadn't noticed him pacing three stories up, watching her closely. No other entity flecked the horizon; no visible ships graced the sky. There was an uneasy turbulence in the air, but no source of invader.

His rifle was at his side. Years of experience had honed his ability as a commander, allowing him the ability to rise in rank to general and trusted confidant to the king. His eagle eyes and quick trigger made Cossack undeniably lethal on the battlefield, especially at long range.

He inhaled, tasting the wind as he did so. He held it in his lungs a moment, savoring the scent before releasing it back to the sky. There was no sound other than the footfalls of the heiress bounding across the landscape. She was doing what any pent-up teenage Drule would do – she was practicing combat. Each step she took was precisely coordinated and she leaped over boulders and scaled small cliffs, leaped from decayed branches or decrepit trees and tumbled across the ground just to keep running further.

Cossack rose from his position and leisurely paced along the ledge, keeping her in his view as she circled in a large loop around Castle Doom. Eventually, Tarla grew fatigued and her sprint slowed to a jog before she stopped completely and sat down on a boulder to catch her breath.

As he watched her, he couldn't help but notice how remarkably similar to her father the young girl was. She was wild and full of her own ideas. She rebelled against anything she didn't agree with and sought her own path. In his younger years, Lotor had been very similar. Cossack remembered several expeditions to Arus at his then-prince's side in explicit contradiction to King Zarkon's wishes. Lotor hadn't cared. He had gone anyway. Cossack was dreading the day that Tarla became interested in pursuing a mate. While the king might deserve a taste of his own medicine for his stubborn infatuation, Cossack was certain that he would be the one cleaning up any messes.

* * *

Lotor glanced up from the open book in his lap to look across his study at Tarla. She was sitting at a hardwood table, books and parchment open and strewn about around her. He hadn't been about to let her out of his sight after the library incident. Tarla looked over the documents in front of her, reading and re-reading the same passage distractedly. She bit down on her bottom lip as she struggled to focus on the history book. He looked back to his own work as she continued her studies.

"I don't understand!" She exclaimed in frustration suddenly, slamming her hands down on the table. Books went sliding across the surface away from her. Lotor's eyes honed in on his frustrated daughter quickly. "It doesn't make sense," she complained, dragging the offending text back toward her. "What _is_  Voltron and where did it come from!?"

Lotor stilled as his blood chilled at the name.

"What… what are you studying Tarla?" He rose from his desk and walked towards her carefully. She sighed in exasperation as her father approached. She pointed to an unusually new-looking history volume on the last fifty years of Drule conquest.

"There's some mention about some kind of robot, but there's  _nothing,"_ she flipped the book back open and pointed to a chapter. "Here, when it talks about the secession of Pollux from the Drule Empire, it talks about giant robots aiding in the rebellion. But…" She trailed off, flipping through the next several pages. "It's never mentioned again."

"Perhaps it was only a one-time incident," he murmured quietly, his eyes scanning every word on the page over his daughter's shoulder.

"But it wasn't. I mean, we would know where it came from, right? Did Pollux build it? Was it destroyed by our forces in the battle? And I can't seem to understand…" She flipped between two sections of the history volume. "In some places it mentions five robots. In others, just one. Are there six? Did they come from different places?"

"I think that's enough studying for now, Tarla, you've done a good job on your research. But... why did you pick this topic, specifically?" He closed the book in front of her and began to slide it gently out of her reach on the table.

"I was reading about military tactics while studying historical warfare, and the name 'Voltron' came up in a little excerpt about a heavy loss we suffered. I couldn't find any more information on the battle or the enemy, however," she explained. She watched as her father pulled the volume back into his possession completely. "And I wanted to know more."

"Perhaps there just isn't any more information," he said again, holding the book to his chest and quickly skimming the other titles strewn about her. All were historical volumes, but none spanned the same time period as the volume he cradled.

"Of course there's more," she muttered dryly. "The information is just… not easily found."

"You should let it go, Tarla," he urged her gently.

"I won't."

The King sighed, seeing his own obstinate fire mirrored back at him through his daughter.

"It's not important."

"But it  _is_." Tarla grew more emotional. "There is something out there that has clearly done severe harm to our Empire. Either Pollux built it, or it came from elsewhere. Someone, somewhere out there has the capacity to cripple our forces.  _That's_  worth knowing about. And I  _will_  figure it out and protect our people!" She pulled back and punched the top of the table in proper Drule fury at the end of her oath.

The wood cracked slightly under her fist, but it was the resulting blast that caught them both by surprise. The second her hand connected with the wooden surface, a lightning bolt arced between the ceiling and the point of contact, resulting in an explosive shockwave.

Lotor's body slammed into his desk and sent papers and pens flying to the floor. The bound tome he had been clutching was lost in the impact as he struggled to right himself. Gaining the ground beneath his feet, he covered the distance past the pile of smoldering splinters left of the table to where his daughter had tumbled across the floor.

Tarla sat upright as he came to her side and stared wide-eyed at what remained of her workspace.

"What… what in the…" she gasped, an uncharacteristic fear rolled off her. "What  _was_  that?" She took a deep breath, trying to calm her rising panic as her eyes shot to the ceiling from where the bolt seemed to appear. There were no scorch marks, no damage nor any sign of intrusion.

"Are you alright?" The king's concerned expression brought Tarla back to reality. She nodded once, feeling her courage return.

"What happened in here?"

Both Drule eyes fixated on new arrival. Haggar surveyed the office carefully. The only noticeable damage was to the table itself. Embers from the electricity remained, but nothing caught fire.

"There was another attack," Lotor began, rising from Tarla to look up at the ceiling and circle to the windows. His lazon sword was humming at his side.

"Where did it originate from?"

Lotor glanced to Haggar before pointing to the ceiling. Haggar's golden, glowing eyes squinted at him thoughtfully.

"Are you sure," she inquired carefully. "Come, child," she beckoned Tarla over to her. Haggar reached for the princess's hands.

"Of course I'm sure, I  _saw_  it!" Lotor glared at the witch as she inspected his daughter's palms and backs of her hands.

"What did you see, exactly, Your Majesty?" Haggar continued to look over the girl's hands while speaking to her king.

"We were talking about history, and something shot us with some kind of electrical weapon," he said frustrated, running his empty hand through his hair. He paced around the room. "Why aren't you more concerned, witch?"

Haggar dropped Tarla's hands and began moving around the room carefully, beginning to gather the books, papers and parchments that had been scattered from the wind of the blast wave.

"I asked what you saw, Sire, not what you inferred."

"I just told you-"

"You just told me what you think is the explanation for what you saw. But what did you  _see_?" She fixed her eyes on him, pausing as she tidied his desk up.

"I saw… I saw Tarla strike the table and…" King Lotor trailed off. He silenced the hum of his sword by returning it to the sheath and eased himself down into one of the armchairs while he wrapped his mind around what he saw. "Lightning. There was lightning. It struck her hand."

"My hand isn't harmed," Tarla spoke up for the first time since the witch had joined the conversation. Haggar just glanced over to the girl and winked at her. She set the papers on Lotor's desk and righted the scattered books. She moved with an ease that made the other two uncomfortable. The witch seemed entirely unfazed by the incident.

"Haggar," Lotor leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his palm. "Are you implying that it originated from  _Tarla_?" The incredulous look on Lotor's face alarmed his daughter. Haggar only shrugged.

"Merla does have her own breed of magic powers, you know. It manifests as her mental manipulation techniques. Is it so strange to think Tarla might have inherited something from her?" The witch leaned against the heavy desk as Lotor paced around the room.

"I can use telepathy?" Tarla glanced between both adults in surprise.

"Not likely, no," Haggar quickly explained. "Magic can't be inherited directly through genetics. A  _predisposition_  to it, however, can. Often when a parent is gifted, a child will be as well. Though not necessarily the same kind. Environmental factors can also influence how the magic manifests," she added. "It's not  _uncommon_  to see the same type of power appear through the family line, however it is not the type of magic itself that is inherited."

"Did… did I cause the fire in the library then?" Tarla looked to her father horrified. "I don't even remember, I just… I felt angry, that's all I remember."

A beat of silence passed between them before Lotor snapped his attention to the sorceress.

"Can you teach her how to control it, Haggar?" The witch glanced between the two strained expressions in front of her.

"Unfortunately, it is also not my realm of expertise. Tarla has, somehow, despite where she was born and lives, not acquired a flavor for Dark Magic or Mental Manipulation," she said carefully.

"Then what is it? Do you know what kind it is?" Tarla's hands clasped in front of her chest, fear visible on her face. When Haggar stayed silent for a moment, Lotor could have kicked her. He knew damn well the witch was savoring the moment before she told them.

"Elemental," she said at last. Lotor and Tarla exchanged confused looks. Haggar slowly leaned over, gathering the last of the ornaments from the floor.

"And you can't help her? Who can? Someone has to know something about elemental magic! Maybe Merla knows someone if this 'predisposition' runs on her side," Lotor began murmuring to himself, eliciting a soft cackle from Haggar as she set the inkwell down on his desk in its proper location.

"Really, Sire? In all of your exploits, conquests and failures, you've never met anyone who knows a single thing about elemental magic? Not a single soul who, for whatever reason from the gods, just might be _kind_ enough to help Tarla learn?" She set the tiny gold lion back in its place by the inkwell. She cast him a knowing look before turning and wandering out of the office with only one lingering observation. "Pity…"

Tarla stared after the witch as she left, feeling the color drain from her skin.

"Haggar, come back! Father, don't let her just lea-" Tarla froze as she turned and saw her father's expression. His serpentine eyes were fixed intently on the tiny lion, his lips pressed together in a thin, tense line.

"…Father? Are you well?" She edged closer to Lotor, unsure if he were even breathing. She reached out and gently touched his shoulder. His eyes snapped down to hers, torn from the ornament that never left his desk. A moment passed and he smiled uncomfortably.

"Yes, I am, Tarla. Thank you for your concern," he said carefully. He spoke slowly and evenly, but she swore she heard his voice waver slightly.

"So what do we do now?"

"Haggar is right, I  _do_  know someone who just might help us," he said. He glanced to the door and released a shaky exhale. "Someone I haven't seen in a  _very_  long time."

"And old friend?" Tarla tilted her head to the side curiously, as she regarded her father.

"I'm not entirely certain. We'll find out when we get there," he murmured cryptically as he led the way out of the study.

* * *

Tarla stared out the passenger-side glass windows of the small cruiser her father piloted. For most of the flight, confusion and concern rolled through her. Lotor had refused to elaborate on why they took neither crew nor warships as was customary. Even to friendly planets and allies, it was common practice for the king to land accompanied with a fleet. For the first time in her life, Tarla was traveling alone with her father. With no attendants to fuss after her or guards to stare obligatorily, she felt a thrill of adventure run through her body.

Concern was the predominant emotion she felt; the situation was too unusual for her to sit quietly. Her father was critically silent beside her. Any question she asked about where they were headed, who they were seeing, or why he didn't consider them a friend, he dismissed quickly.

"Just as long as they can help, that's what matters," she whispered to herself. Lotor glanced to his daughter out of the corner of his eye. He was troubled that he couldn't give her any more consolation to her fears, but his own concern was elevated. Lotor's chest felt constricted and he struggled to focus on the spacecraft as they approached a hauntingly familiar blue marble. He had no idea what he was getting himself into, and that alarmed the arrogant and confident king.

Tarla felt her own concern lighten when a vibrant and colorful planet came into view. Brilliant blue oceans and rolling green plains littered the landscape from afar. Pressing her nose to the glass, she studied it closely as the details came into view.

"It's beautiful! Where are we?" She watched with wonderment as sandy deserts appeared in the distance. A brilliant, white structure towered in the distance. Lotor's hands tensed on his steering wheel as it came closer. They were heading right for it.

"We're on Planet Arus, Tarla," he said quietly.


	3. Frost

Tarla gasped at the first straight answer he had given her. She glanced back to the window to find that the thing she had mistaken for a tower was a majestic castle instead. As the spacecraft touched down nearby, Lotor stepped outside and gestured for Tarla to do the same. "Stay close to me," he warned.

"What's Arus?" She inquired as she moved to stand at his side. He led the way across a massive bridge overlooking a moat.

Tarla had never seen water so clear nor grass so green. Planet Doom only hosted a spectrum of greys with an occasional splash of gold or red. Glancing up, she gasped at the sight of a lion statue staring down at them. Lotor paused as well to regard it.

"It had a fairly good likeness, don't you think?" He smirked at his daughter as she recognized the lion from the replica on her father's desk.

"It's from _here_?" She turned to look at him in surprise. "Why…" she looked around the verdant landscaping and up at the crystal-blue sky. "Why do you have it? I know it's important to you, but… _why_?" She looked back at her father just in time to catch a wistful smile leave his face.

"Come," he skirted another question of hers and nudged her toward the large castle doors, much to her irritation. Tarla promised herself she would get some answers before the day was through. Lotor paused at the entryway. He hesitated a moment and exhaled before doing something he had never done before.

He knocked.

Several minutes ticked by before one door opened slowly. A young woman in a grey dress with a white, frilled apron stepped out… and promptly screamed. On instinct, Tarla cried out in alarm as well, both women leaping backward away from each other.

"Drules!" The maid swayed slightly and caught herself on the door.

"Be at ease," Lotor stepped in, trying to calm the situation for once in his life. "I was hoping for an audience with the queen. Is she available?"

"I… I… you're… you're L…  _Lotor_!" The stunned maid fell backward before scrambling to her feet. Tarla's panic eased as she saw her father remain calm.

"I didn't know we were on a human planet," she murmured to him.

"Please see if the queen will see me," he urged, trying to use his calmest and most sincere voice – a tactic he was not used to employing.

The servant girl stared warily at the two tall individuals before nodding mutely.

"W…would you mind waiting terribly here in the parlor while I fetch her?" The young woman was visibly trembling and as pale as snow.

"Show us the way," he nodded once. "What's your name?" Her eyes darted between the two of them dangerously for a moment.

"Elia," she supplied with reticence.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Elia," he said gently as the maid turned and let them into the castle and down a small hallway. She was significantly shorter than either of the castle guests and she fidgeted nervously as she showed them the way. She gestured to a plush parlor with chairs littered around a table. The seating area was designed as a temporary space for callers to wait. Once they settled into armchairs, Elia gave a curt bow before practically sprinting from the terrifying warlords.

Tarla exchanged a look with Lotor and he just exhaled tensely before folding his face into his palms. There was nothing left to do but to wait.

* * *

Lotor glanced up from the armchair at the sound of footsteps. Tarla shifted uncomfortably in her seat, agitated from waiting. Time stood still as the Golden Queen of Arus came around the corner and froze.

_Magnificent._

There simply did not exist another word to describe the sight before him. In the arched doorway to the entry parlor, Allura fixed him with her gaze. Her right hand rested delicately at her collarbone, as if her breath were caught in her palm. Her back was rigid and her muscles tensed. Neither moved. Allura's eyes were like shields - frozen and unreadable - and he couldn't see what was running through her mind.

Her hair was piled on top of her head in a way he was used to seeing and she was cloaked in a gown of a very familiar shade of pink. The details and ornamentation were different from the last he had seen of her, but it was very intrinsically characteristic just the same.

"You're in my parlor." Allura's first words to him tumbled from her lips and it was music to his ears. Decades later, her voice still soothed him. She stood very still, staring at the king as if she were watching a ghost, as a mixture of alarm and fascination began to etch into her otherwise impassive face.

"I am," he said slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. He was afraid to move. He hadn't actually expected an audience with her after all this time. He didn't know what he should expect; an act of war, a slap to the face, or perhaps a resound insult and challenge - but actually meeting with her was not high on his list of possibility.

"You've never waited in my parlor before," she continued. Her tone almost sounded accusatory, unsure how to react to the situation. She wasn't misplaced to be wary – he had never allowed himself to be a guest in her home before. He had never waited to see her; Lotor had simply found her where she was and tried to extract her from her home.

Allura's eyes finally tore from his and she looked over his very still frame sitting in one of her stuffed armchairs. Lotor felt his skin burn everywhere her eyes touched him.

"I have not." The silence that hung between them was tense, awkward, but not wholly unpleasant. Each lengthy pause between their phrases stretched for eternity. Despite the intensity of his attention on her, he could feel the confusion rolling off his daughter nearby.

"It's a very nice parlor," he added for lack of anything else to say. He ached to hear her speak again, even if she demanded he leave. Curses and threats would have been welcome companions in the deafening silence between them.

Her body remained unflinching, stoic and braced in the doorway. Despite her unreadable expression, he could tell her mind was racing to sort through emotions. Which she would settle on, he couldn't predict. Would she meet him with fury or fear? Lotor's muscles ached from the strained tension of holding perfectly still. Allura squirmed slightly, displaying the first sense of incoherency and discomfort.

"Hello," she finally said at last, exhaling and relaxing slightly. Her palm dropped to her side and she appeared to be breathing again, but her expression remained guarded.

"Hello, Allura," he said gently, her name sounding like a song as it left his lips. She fidgeted nervously as he rose slowly to his feet. Alarm flashed briefly across her eyes, but they stayed locked on his as he came to his full height over her. With a slowness he had mastered in his later years, he approached the tensing queen. He paused as he noticed she grew more uncomfortable with each step and instead observed her calmly from ten feet away.

"What brings you to Arus after so long?" She tilted her head to the side, regarding him as her concern melted slowly into curiosity. "I noticed you didn't bring an invasion fleet with you this time." Her lips twitched as if she wanted to smile, but they stayed frustratingly impassive.

He tore his eyes off of the fair queen to look to his daughter. He extended his hand to her, and Tarla rose from her chair and moved to stand by her father. Despite her young age, Tarla was only slightly shorter than the human woman.

"This is Tarla, my daughter," Lotor said. "Tarla, this is-," he paused in surprise as the princess bowed stiffly at the waist before Allura.

"What… is she doing?" Allura turned her surprised gaze on Lotor for an explanation.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness," she said, holding the bowed position, recognizing someone of a higher rank than herself in the room.

"Merla," Lotor groaned softly. Before he could say anything else, Allura simply laughed quietly before closing the distance between them. She touched Tarla's shoulders and gently nudged her upright.

"Please call me Allura, Tarla. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said genuinely, startling the young princess. Tarla looked to her father in confusion, and in response it was his turn to throw his head back and laugh. Even Allura was surprised by the genuine laughter from the one-arrogant prince. Her smile lingered on her lips as she glanced from the boisterous king to the befuddled princess.

"Shall we head to the sun room? I'll have some tea and biscuits brought up. It will be cozier there," she said, watching the two in amusement. As he nodded, she turned and led the way out. "Muriel," she called, caching a maid as she bustled by. "Would you bring some tea and biscuits to the sun room? And wine. Oh, also please let the Prime Minister know I am unable to attend the cabinet meeting later – something more urgent has arisen unexpectedly." She cast Lotor a shy smile before looking back to the shocked maid. Muriel was unsurprisingly stunned to see two Drules in the castle, just as Elia had, but she mutely nodded and scurried off to carry out the orders her queen had bade.

"Now, shall we?" She glanced to her guests and began making her way through the hallways, past the ballroom and up a set of stairs toward the sun room.

Lotor and Tarla trailed behind her closely. Within a few strides, he king had brought himself to walk alongside the smaller woman.

"It's been a long time," he commented, looking down at the queen.

"It has," she agreed. "Things have changed for you," she observed.

"But not for you." He paused in his steps and fixed her with an intense look. Allura stopped in her tracks to eye him curiously.

"Things are how they have always been," she said cryptically. "A few things _did_ change though," she admitted under her breath.

"Such as?"

Allura just smiled at her old enemy and continued walking down the corridor, fixing her eyes forward with the same chilly determination he was used to.

"I don't know if you noticed, but I'm an old woman now," she murmured while walking, not bothering to turn and look at him.

"I hadn't," he admitted openly as he picked up his pace behind her. It was true Allura appeared slightly different than before. Her sunkissed hair had subtle flecks of silver streaked through it and her frame was more slender than it had been in her youth. The muscles she had earned as a pilot and a warrior had softened with time. She had always seemed both frail and strong to him at the same time - a glorious dichotomy in many ways - and he still saw her in the same light. Her body was gentle and easily shattered, but her soul was unerring and determined. She turned to look at him over her shoulder as he spoke, perplexed.

Time revealed many things – flaws, weaknesses, aging - it also revealed the things that were immune to decay. Her eyes still held a youthful, defiant fire. Her body still tensed for battle even if she knew her bones couldn't handle the brutality of it. Allura was, even with time, still the same woman he had known and loved; fierce, loyal, gentle and brave.

"I won't tell Haggar you said that," he said after thoughtful recollection, catching up and matching her stride. Allura's lips quirked and she couldn't stop the brief giggle from bubbling up.

"Is she well?"

"I'm not certain she's capable of illness," he muttered, glancing down to find the queen quivering in amusement. The sight of the slender shape of her shoulders trembling as she bottled her humor brought him a joy he hadn't known in ages. As she calmed her mirth, she glanced back up at him and just sighed, shaking her head.

"It's been a long time. I'm not sure what to make of you now," she said as she paused in front of a set of double doors. Allura pushed them open to reveal a small library with a window overlooking the westernmost mountain range. A fire burned in the hearth and four chairs were scattered around in cozy proximity. Tea was set out on the table between the chairs along with biscuits and an uncorked bottle of wine.

Lotor and Tarla entered the room; Allura followed behind to close the doors. The queen moved with a grace and settled into one of the chairs. She poured herself some tea, and watched as the Drules did the same. Lotor, naturally, poured himself some wine after helping his daughter to tea.

"So," she began, leaning back in her chair, watching him closely. "To what do I owe the honor of seeing you so unexpectedly?"

"Straight to business, I see," he observed as he sipped his glass, watching her intently. Tarla glanced between the two adults in confusion – she had never interacted with humans directly before, but the woman sitting across the room from her did not behave like any she had ever imagined. The maids had displayed the reaction she expected – weakness and fear. Since they had landed on the lush planet, her father had been behaving strangely and she could not understand why.  _Is Father afraid of this woman?_ She studied Lotor's profile closely.  _No,_  she decided.  _That's not fear._  The expression he wore was fascination and excitement. She couldn't understand what emotion he was embodying, but it certainly wasn't fear. His famed saber was comfortably sheathed at his side and his body was relaxed.

He was at ease around this woman.  _He's not even this casual with Mother._  Her heart hammered briefly. Some memory in the back of her mind threatened to flare up but she couldn't place it. She shook her head once and exhaled deeply, trying to relax.

"I have a request for you, Allura," he began slowly. Allura's eyes shifted to Tarla briefly before returning to her father. Tarla bristled. Something behind that strange, blue gaze unsettled her.

"Now I'm curious. I would hope it isn't your usual request," she murmured at him. Her voice was lower and Tarla noticed her tense slightly. The young Drule suddenly understood the cryptic exchange that had just happened – Allura had just given Lotor a veiled warning. Her body language had hardened and she sat, braced and ready to move if need be.  _It isn't that Father is afraid of her. … **She's** afraid of **him**. _ Tarla relaxed slightly as she realized that the Drule king was the dominant power in the room.

"It isn't, oddly," he smirked at her. "Unless you'd like it to be."

Allura's gaze turned to ice and stood up abruptly, stalking toward the door.

"Wait!" Lotor jumped to his feet after her. The queen spun to face him with fire in her eyes. Her shoulders trembled as she glared frostily across the room. Tarla rose to her feet and took a couple steps back, alarmed at how quickly the situation had escalated.  _Who IS this woman?_

"You come here after all this time to say  _that_  to me? Get out! I have endured enough by your hand, Lotor!"

He covered the distance between them, pushing the coffee table out of the way with his leg. Tarla's breath caught as she watched her father grasp the woman by the shoulders. She responded with rage, and the resounding slap that echoed around the room froze everyone.

Tarla backed behind a chair, watching them carefully. She felt ashamed that she didn't rush to her father's side to aid him in combat. She had never been in a dangerous situation before and while she felt competent in her abilities, her father was her strength. If Lotor couldn't handle the situation himself, what hope did she have? Her hands covered her mouth as she watched the two, holding her breath.

Lotor slowly turned his head back to look at Allura. The force of her strike to his cheek had turned his face to the side. Allura's angry face stared back at him, unflinching.

Determined, lethal. 

_She's dangerous after all,_ Tarla realized.

Why her father didn't draw his saber and strike her down she could not understand. The woman had  _slapped_  him in the face, and he just stared at her. Tarla had to give her credit though – to slap the King of the Drule Empire and just stand there glaring at him afterwards… she was either brave or incredibly stupid.

"Let. Go." Her words were a command. She shrugged her shoulders once in an effort to dislodge him. He didn't flinch or even acknowledge that he had heard her. She waited, glaring fiercely up at him. "Beast."

No more than a minute ticked by in the heavy silence in the room, but it felt like an eternity to Tarla. To both her and Allura's surprise, Lotor threw his head back and began laughing. Allura's rage melted into absolute confusion at his sudden change in temperament.

Tarla glanced worriedly to the queen. She wondered briefly if her father had gone mad. Allura's shock mirrored her own, however, and she felt some degree of comfort that she was just as surprised as she at the strange behavior.

As he calmed, he glanced back to her, no trace of hardness left on his face.

"Just like the old days. And…. Just like then, I deserved that," he admitted openly, releasing her shoulders. Tarla gaped. Allura looked up at him triumphantly, but still dangerously.

"So then  _why_  are you here?" She narrowed her eyes, stepping back away from him warily.

"Because of me," Tarla said, finding her voice. Two sets of eyes snapped to her and she felt her courage wane. Gathering upon everything she knew as a Drule, she strode forward confidently and stopped before the golden queen. Allura gazed down at her in surprise. "Haggar said you might be able to help me. Can you?"

The blanket of shock that covered her face startled the princess. Allura slowly turned to look at Lotor.

"Haggar... thinks I can help with something?"

When neither Drule responded, she returned her gaze to the princess.

"With what, specifically? I'll do my best to help, of course. But... I'm not sure..."

"That's what we'd like to find out," Lotor chimed in, drawing Allura's gaze his way. The Arusian exhaled once, calming her nerves.

"You rogue," she smacked him on the shoulder gently. "Don't go scaring me like that if you're asking for favors. Let's sit back down and talk about this." He lingered a moment too long and Allura eyed him critically before he backed away to his seat. She followed him with caution, retaking her own chaise.

"Now, what is it Haggar thinks I can help with?"

"It's magic," Tarla said confidently as she sat down, eyeing the tension between her father and the strange woman she just met. "It's not rooted in evil, it's not dark magic," she explained. "She can't help me. She thought you might know something about it, Your Ma- er, _Allura_ ," she said, blushing slightly at the fumble of the title. Allura just smiled genuinely. Lotor found his breath catch at the sight of her.

"You need help with magic? Wouldn't Haggar-"

"We tried that," Lotor cut in. "She can't. Merla won't. We need the help of someone else."

"What in the world do you think I could do?" Allura's sky blue eyes were as wide and innocent as he remembered them.

"She called it… natural… or… something like that magic. I don't remember," Tarla explained.

Allura paused to think for a moment. "Was it… elemental magic?"

"Yes! That's the phrase she used! Can… can you help me? So far, I've set the library on fire… nearly shot Father with static electricity…"

Allura broke into soft giggles, stifling her laughter with her hand.

"Yes, I can try at least," she admitted to the young princess' relief. "How interesting that it would come to you, though," she murmured in warm appreciation. "It's the same magic my father studied. It's… actually the magic he used to build Voltron, incidentally."

" _Your father built Voltron?_ " The thunderous accusation that flooded the room caught Allura off-guard as the young princess shifted from genuine curiosity to pure hostility.

"Yes, he did…" Her answer was careful as she watched the child grow angry at the mention of the name. "I maintain it now. It took longer than anyone expected for me to understand how the magic worked, but it is now under my care."

" _You're_ the one that attacked us!"

"Tarla!" Lotor's voice barked out across the room, startling his hot-tempered daughter.

"What history books have you been reading," Allura murmured in bewilderment as Tarla's rage only grew.

"Every single one that I can find!"

" _Tarla!"_  

The feisty Drule quieted as her father grew harsher than he had ever been before. The heavy silence that descended from the room aroused a sigh from the king.

"What have you been telling her about me, Lotor?" Allura's eyes were both confused and amused at the situation unfolding her. She kept the furious princess in her peripheral vision warily as she watched the flustered king.

"Absolutely nothing, that's the problem," he muttered. He exhaled again in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Tarla, let me explain what I intended to hide from you – and everyone else. I did not ever anticipate finding myself back here, again."


	4. Nature

"The history books in our libraries are incomplete. Arus has had a long history with the Drule Empire, unpleasant for both sides," he explained.

"Some more than others," the queen muttered under her breath. Lotor tossed her a pensive look before he continued, glancing back to his daughter.

"There was a war. At the height of your grandfather's conquering, planet Arus became a target of his. There was much devastation; many Arusians were enslaved at his hand."

"And yours," Allura added quietly, her hands folded in her lap as she listened to his recount of their history. Her eyes dropped downward to the teacup on the table in front of her. The pattern of spilled tea from the struggle had spontaneously become extraordinarily fascinating.

"And mine," he added darkly. His eyes stayed fixed on Allura as he continued. She wasn't looking at him, but she could feel the intensity of his gaze on her. "Most of Arus was in ruins when the Galaxy Alliance sent help to Arus. They were looking to resurrect the great robot called Voltron."

"Haggar had shattered the robot into five pieces, and it now required five pilots to work because of that. I couldn't do it alone," Allura admitted. "I needed help. Without at least four other pilots, it was nothing. My people were dying all around me, our crops burning, and our buildings were in pieces. I couldn't repair my planet fast enough to keep up with the destruction." She hung her head lower, watching her fingers as they twisted together in her lap. "I couldn't save them. _I failed them all_. But then the Space Explorers came," she looked up with a hopeful expression on her face.

Tarla followed her gaze to a tapestry mounted on a wall - woven in silken fibers was an image of five, colorful, metallic lions. "And we survived. And we started winning for the first time. We were able to cling to our dreams and our desire for freedom." She nodded once, glancing back to Lotor to let him finish his retelling. A part of his chest clenched at the pain on the queen's face. The early years against Zarkon had been trying for her. He had not been kind to her, either, but the pressure and destruction his father had brought forth vastly exceeded his own.

"Voltron can be formed from the unification of the five lion ships," he continued, glancing away from the gentle queen. The frightening memories clearly etched in her face evoked a softness from him that he did not care to express, certainly not in front of Tarla. "For years, the Drule Empire sought to destroy the robot as it rallied and defended planets not yet under our control."

"Voltron is a defender - it does  _not_  attack," she added darkly. "I'm not sure where that came from, but there was only one instance where we attacked the Drule Empire, and that was Castle Doom itself. I still ache from that decision to this day morally, but it was tactically necessary. The onslaught against my people was incessant. We needed to end it. I knew Zarkon would never stop. He would never call it off and leave us alone. We had to send a striking blow to him." She closed her eyes against the haunting history. "It was our only option," she whispered.

"Any Drule would agree with you, Allura, that you made a tactically-founded decision," Lotor murmured across the room to her. Her icy eyes flashed open as she looked to him, shimmering with tears.

"It doesn't mean it doesn't weigh on me to this day." He recoiled at the pain behind her gaze. There was no regret. Princess and Queen Allura had never regretted. She had always followed her heart and done the thing she felt most right. On occasion, righteousness had conflicted with her heart, but she followed through. He realized that any guilt from such decisions she carried with her like a mantle.

"Reverse the roles and we would have done the same," he reiterated, trying to assuage her pain. She shook her head once, dismissively. When she glanced up to him, her eyes were again ageless yet her smile remained tense.

"It's behind us. …I'd like to think, at any rate," she said. Her face was hopeful but she awaited his word on the matter. The queen wasn't yet entirely certain that his visit was peaceful. When he nodded once, she smiled genuinely and clapped her hands together, fixing her gaze on the young princess.

"Would you like to meet them?" Allura smiled openly at Tarla, patiently waiting for her response.

"Meet… who?"

"Why, the Voltron Lions, of course!" She pointed to the roof and tilted her head to the side as a sub-sonic  _whoosh_  roared by. "They're training right now. We can go see them!"

"I… Father? Should we?" She looked to Lotor for guidance on the question.

"It's up to you, Tarla. I've seen my fair share of them in my life," he laughed softly. The low tone of his humor caused Allura to shiver slightly – it was reminiscent of the evil laughter she had often heard at precarious moments.

"If you'd rather not, that's alright-"

"No, I do! I want to see these fearsome lions," she said with determination. Her golden gaze locked on Allura and the queen only smiled weakly. It was clear Tarla did not care for her. The serpentine eyes narrowed, eager for information about the majestic robot that was capable of bringing destruction to her people.

"Let's go to the terrace, we can see them easily from there. It's not far," she added as the Drules rose behind her. Allura felt a twinge of wariness toward the feisty young princess, but she wanted to do her best to bridge the gap between Doom and Arus.

Tarla felt her guard melt away as Allura opened up a set of double doors to a large, tiled balcony. The unfenced area was massive, and permitted a wide view of both the ground around the castle and the sky above it. Allura led the way toward the center of the spacious area nestled between the spires. The winds of Arus breezed around the trio, rustling hair and billowing Allura's gown.

She turned and smiled warmly to Tarla and gestured to the sky above. The five colorful lions flew about in magnificent arcs. Some shot missiles at the others, others still practiced plunges toward the earth.

"They’re incredible," the princess breathed, seeing the mythical creatures of war for the first time. None of her history books had any images, and descriptions had been limited. She had never imagined how beautiful and deadly they were.

The gentle wind whipped up suddenly, causing gusts as Red Lion descended from the sky and landed on the tiled balcony itself. Lotor squared his shoulders as Tarla took an uneasy step back.

"Why did it land here," she whispered to her father. Allura looked back to the lion and tossed the couple a reassuring smile over her shoulder as she approached the beast.

"Everything will be fine. I'm sure a pilot is about to introduce him-"

"What the hell, Lotor!?" Lance's familiar voice echoed off the spires rising around the platform before he had even exited the cockpit. The pilot launched himself out of the lion ship and rushed to Allura's side, glaring angrily at the Drule king.

"Easy, Lance. He's just visiting. This is his daughter, Tarla," she explained, gesturing to the wide-eyed young female next to him. Lotor's lazon sword was drawn and active in front of him.

"I…" He trailed off, looking between the three of them before removing his helmet. Salt-and-pepper hair flared around his rogue-like face. Despite the years, Lance had retained both his charm and his looks. His cheekbones were defined and the only indication of his years beyond his hair were the slightest of crinkles at the corners of his eyes. "So you're safe?"

Allura nodded to him silently, a smile on her lips.

"You can put that away, too," she said pointedly to Lotor. "I won't have the two of you dueling like schoolboys. What example would that set for Tarla?"

The princess gaped as her warrior and warlord of a father put away his sword, looking properly scolded by a mere human female. 

_She's dangerous,_  Tarla reminded herself.

"It's been a while," Lance said at last, casting Allura one last wary look. She smiled reassuringly at him and Lance made a point to remove the pistol from his holster and hand it to Allura. She accepted the disarmament and after checking the safety, held it at her side. She watched carefully as Lance strode across the open space between himself and his former enemy. He stopped in front of Lotor and eyed him for a moment before thrusting out his hand as a peace offering.

Surprised, Lotor took it and returned the firm handshake.

"Welcome to Arus," he said cheekily, dropping his hand away. He glanced to the princess standing a pace behind her father. "My name's Lance," he introduced himself.

"This is Tarla," Lotor indicated. His eyes glanced over as an amused Allura glided in to join the gathering. She handed Lance his pistol back and he holstered it once the tension had dissipated.

"How are they doing?" Allura looked to Lance and flashed her eyes to the robots overhead.

"They're coming along, still a little green. Solid candidates, however," he added. Black Lion flew close by overhead and Allura watched as it flew behind the castle.

"How's Cassandra handling Black Lion?"

"She's good. She's real good as a pilot," he explained. "Her commanding and leadership leaves a little to be desired, but they may develop with time. Hell, Keith was a terrible leader at the very beginning. You should have seen us all at Galaxy Garrison," he laughed, glancing to the Drules to include them in the conversation as well. "We were a mess. Honestly I still wonder why they chose us to come to Arus," he muttered.

"You were perfect," Allura assured him.

"You were one of the original pilots?" Tarla spoke up for the first time since the lion had landed. Lance nodded, his helmet tucked casually under his arm.

"Red Lion, to be specific," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to the great beast behind them. "Princess here," he froze and looked to Allura sheepishly.

"It's been fifteen years Lance," she chastised him.

"But calling you 'Queen' just sounds weird," he protested. She playfully punched his shoulder but seemed untroubled by the slip in title.

" _Allura_  here," he continued, watching her amused expression carefully before looking back to Tarla. "Was the original Blue Lion pilot."

" _What._ " Tarla stared coldly at the queen in front of her. Allura shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. Mere hours ago she had only learned of a fearsome robot that had destructive capabilities within her empire. Since then, she had learned the history books weren't entirely correct and had met  _two_  of the pilots from her books.

"Well, that's technically incorrect.  _Sven_  was there before me, until Haggar injured him," she corrected Lance as she turned to face him, shelving her concern of the princess.

"And then he went and fell in love with your cousin and ran away to Pollux," he added.

"That's not  _quite_  how that all happened, but yes," she said, laughing softly.

"I'm surprised Red Lion was the one that descended from the sky," Lotor noted, watching again as Black Lion soared overhead.

"Why is that?"

"I would have anticipated it to be Black Lion," he explained.

Allura and Lance exchanged looks.

"Keith isn't here anymore," Allura began as she looked back to Lotor. "None of the pilots in the sky are from the original five, except for Lance. He's training the new generation. I don't know that they would necessarily recognize you, and certainly not as fast as him. We have a school now and a military and everything," she explained, clasping her hands together. "Arus has really pulled itself together." She sighed pleasantly, turning a warm smile as the sun arched overhead toward the horizon. "Prospering, even," she murmured more to herself.

Lance gave Lotor a pointed look. The king stared back coldly, well-aware of his hand in the destruction of her planet. The pilot thrust his thumbs through his belt loops casually and just shrugged after a moment. He glanced quickly up at Allura's gasp.

Blue Lion slammed into one of the nearby hills and tumbled into the moat. She winced and watched her old lion settle onto the pedestal at the bottom of the lake. She ran to the edge of the platform to peer into the moat, holding on to one of Red Lion's talons for support.

"Is he okay?"

Lance groaned, following behind her.

"Yeah. Jonesy is… he's… he's my special project. He's good in the heat of combat but he's pretty uncoordinated otherwise. Good guy, good fit for the team. Little clumsy, though. We're working on it," Lance admitted, running his hand through his hair. Allura backed away from the edge and made her way back toward the Drules.

"Good thing Blue Lion is used to an unskilled pilot at the helm," she replied.

"Allura," he glared at her. "You are not unskilled. You're one of the best." She paused to regard him as Lotor and Tarla came to join them near the paws of Red Lion.

"Was," she corrected. "And even you have to admit, right after Sven was out of commission… at the very beginning? I was…" She trailed off, letting him finish. When he squirmed, she nudged him. "Say it."

"…an absolute disaster."

Tarla's eyes widened at the crude words spoken about and to the queen. She was genuinely surprised when Allura only nodded and giggled.

"Exactly," she agreed.

"There was dire need. Emergency situation. We had had years of training at-" Lance stopped when Allura leaned forward and put her finger on his lips.

"Yes, you're correct. All of that is correct, but emergency situation does not magically make me have skill when before I met you I had never even held a pistol before. I was terribly under-qualified, but it was a necessity. Between you and Keith, I shaped up pretty well. You'll do the same for Jonesy," she added with a smile, dropping her hand back to her side. "Don't give up on him," she patted his arm. "Skills are taught. Good character and team synergy isn't something that you can teach," she reminded him.

He nodded once, and then looked to Lotor.

"Good seeing you from friendly skies," he said cheerfully. "Gonna get back to my students now before they all crash." He gave a salute to the monarch before bouncing back to the fiery lion and launching into the air after the rest of the party had time to step back.

Allura smiled to the stunned king and alarmed princess.

"So, there you have it. The robot lions!" She pointed up at the sky as the vessels – save Jonesy – moved in to practice flying in the ever-critical Voltron formation.

"How many are left?" Lotor's deep voice startled her from her thoughts and she glanced to him as he came to stand in front of her. Allura's head tilted up so she could look up into his eyes.

"I'm sorry?"

"The pilots, the five of you. How many are still around?"

"Oh," she murmured, glancing away. She stared out as the sun began to caress the mountains and sent the sky into an orange glow.

"Lance is still here. He works with the new recruits. We have a few Voltron teams now, so if someone's injured… well. They don't get stuck with a Princess Allura situation," she murmured dryly, a wry smile on her lips. "Hunk is nearby, he's working in a scrapyard a couple parsecs over, it's his dream job. He can build the most amazing things from what would be garbage. He likes the challenge. He comes over periodically to help service the lions, or repair any damage. He's really the only one who knows how. The computer can to it automatically, but it's still a reassurance to have a person check the work."

"And the others," he encouraged, his eyes never leaving the top of her head as she watched the sunset.

"Pidge founded his own academy in the Azure Quadrant for robotic electronics. He was teaching, but I think it's more administration now," she said. She hesitated. "And, well I'm sure with your position, you've heard about Keith."

"Marshal of the Galaxy Alliance," he affirmed. "I had heard. It must be difficult to be away from him," he hedged warily. Allura startled and looked up to him.

"How do you mean?"

"To be so close to someone but to be light-years apart. Do you see each other very often?" She shrugged again at his question.

"I miss all my friends that aren't near me, but it's such a promising time for everyone. We're branching out, finally embracing the hopes and dreams we've all been chasing for so long. I never expected us to always stay together – that would mean to hope for perpetual war. It's made working with the Alliance much easier, too. The prior administration catered to my whims because they were fond of Voltron but really gave little regard for my people. Keith is still sometimes stonewalled by the Council voting against him, but it's much better than it ever was before. We actually have the representation we should have had from the beginning," she explained, flashing him a smile.

"But to be so far away from your husband must-"

"Husband?" Allura stepped back from the king in shock. She looked over to an equally confused Tarla before looking back to Lotor.

"I just assumed-"

"Keith and I aren't anything. He's not my husband… Lotor, …I never married," she explained, watching him carefully.

"What."

The expression on Lotor's face was nearly unreadable.

"I never married," she repeated, crossing her arms over her chest warily. "I just never met the right person at the right time," she supplied mysteriously, gliding by the startled princess. Lotor stared after the magnificent woman as she made her way back into the castle.

"It's almost nightfall," Allura continued. "Will you be staying on Arus tonight or returning to Castle Doom?"

Lotor stopped by Tarla and glanced down to his daughter.

"Stay, I would imagine," he said, watching Allura's back.

"Excellent," she said. "I can begin work with Tarla tomorrow then. I'll show you to your rooms, and then to dinner." She picked up walking again, heading down the hallway back toward the residence chambers.


	5. Foundation

Tarla yawned and rolled over in her bed sleepily. Plush greeted her from below, supporting her body in a way her normal mattress didn't. Fluffy, warm blankets heaped on top of her, keeping her body heat locked inside the cocoon.

Something warmed her skin in a delightful manner and she felt her lips curl in delight. With a feral noise, she stretched before letting her eyes flutter open gently. Everything around her was softer than anything she had ever felt before. Above her, a bright ceiling held a glittering light fixture. The lamps contained in the arched, golden coils were off, but the room was still warmed in an unusually bright light.

Tarla sat up and looked to the massive glass window near the bed she found herself in. The sun was rising above the eastward mountain range and it was casting her entire room in a warm, luxurious glow.

_What a strange planet,_  she thought to herself. The planet – and seemingly its queen – was soft and warm in all the ways Doom was harsh and cold. She patted the comforter and flopped back into the bed, eager to enjoy the foreign sensation of sunlight heating her skin.

Tarla checked the door’s keypad.

It was locked. She wasn't about to let her father catch her relaxing so casually. She smiled and let her head fall back into the pillows.

Several minutes later, she stretched and sat up, stepping out of the bed. The princess glanced around and made her way to the shower. Flipping it on, she let the steam engulf the room before stepping in to bathe.

A half hour later, Tarla stepped out into the hallway, showered and fully clothed. A human maid was waiting on the other side of the door for her.

"Good morning, Princess. Would you like to join your father and the queen for breakfast?"

Tarla startled and nodded once, surprised. She followed the woman down the hallway before she gestured to a set of double doors. The princess took the initiative to push them open.

Heated chatter from inside the room ceased as two sets of eyes fixed on her. It took the young Drule a moment to process what was happening. Allura was recoiled against an armchair, bracing against the armrests as the Drule king stood over her. Their faces were inches apart and the queen's hands were balled into fists as if she were resisting the urge to strike him again. Her skin was pale, her eyes wide with surprise.

Lotor quickly stepped back with a cough and smoothed over his shirt at the sight of his daughter.

"Good morning, Tarla," he said, gesturing she join him as he settled into a chair at a table. Across the surface, plates of croissants, crumpets, fresh fruit and pitchers of juice were displayed. Tarla walked into the room carefully, eyeing the queen with concern as Allura brushed out her gown and smoothed down her hair before elegantly joining them both at the table.

"Did you rest well?" Allura cast the young woman a genuine smile, even as the princess returned the look coldly.

"I did, thank you," she said distantly. After watching her father help himself to some of the food, Tarla followed suit. She tried a little of everything on the table and was not even remotely unsatisfied. The bread was fresh, the fruit was crisp and sweet; Arus was truly a bountiful planet with a lush harvest. She found it absolutely unfathomable she had never heard of the place before. Allura nibbled at a croissant and a few pieces of fruit, watching as the father and daughter conversed amicably.

She smiled demurely when Lotor locked his eyes on hers. With a subtle shake of her head, she glanced back down to her plate before her and continued to eat. As they finished, Allura looked to Tarla.

"Are you ready for your first lesson?" Tarla nodded eagerly in response.

"Yes, I wish to conquer this form of magic that I have within me," she said decisively. Allura just responded with a dry smile at her word choice. She was unsurprised by the heiress to the Drule Empire.

"Very well. Shall we head outside and begin now?" The queen glanced to Lotor and Tarla and both nodded. "Let's adjourn, then."

She pushed up from the table and made her way to the halls. A winding staircase later, the trio found themselves marching out across the bridge to the grassy slopes. Tarla was still rolling through all the information regarding Voltron and the lions and reconciling it with her own knowledge of history.

"You attacked Pollux with Voltron," Tarla commented, still not close to trusting the golden-haired human in front of her. Allura turned to look at the heiress in blatant surprise.

"Of course. Pollux had been invaded and promised servitude and service to Planet Doom in an effort to end the destruction. Prince Lotor had enslaved my cousin Romelle, princess of the planet. I couldn't have that. Pollux is Arus' sister-planet," she explained matter-of-factly before turning back to lead the way to the bank near the moat. Tarla fixed her father with a very pointed gaze.

" _That_  fact was conveniently left out of the Drule historical account," she accused. Lotor's lips just tensed together in response.

"How is Romelle?" He shifted the focus of the subject. Allura waited only a moment before replying.

"Happily married to Sven and ruling the planet with him. Also, I'm a very proud aunt," she replied cheerfully. Despite being only distant cousins, Allura counted the other queen as the sister she never had and Romelle returned the favor. "Prince Bandor is jealous that I spoil my niece as much as I do."

Lotor let out an earthy chuckle as he processed the information. News of Romelle's coronation had reached his ears in the depths of the Drule Empire, but the information about her marriage to the former Voltron pilot was new. He found himself unsurprised by it, however, as he watched Allura march into the grassy slopes near the moat. She stopped and turned to face the two.

"Alright," she said with an exhale, quieting her mind. "Are you ready?"

Tarla's curiosity on the mystery surrounding Arus and its queen was quickly erased at the prospect of mastering the destructive force she found herself in possession of. Allura turned a winsome smile to Lotor.

"You might want to step back; we'll be dealing with unpredictable magic, as you've already seen, apparently," she explained.

Lotor frowned worriedly between the two in front of him before stepping back. Allura also backed away from the princess.

"What do I do first?"

"I need to see what comes naturally for you; so I can best judge how to help you. Lotor – please back up a little more. I don't know what to expect from this – don't look at me like that, she'll be fine. It's  _us_  I'm concerned about!”

“Tarla, I want to see how your magic manifests," Allura continued cryptically. When both her companions looked puzzled, she continued. "Elemental magic is intrinsically tied to our emotions and how we control and express them. I need to see how yours behave naturally in order to help you tame them."

"So… what should I do?"

"I would like you to take a moment and think about the most important, most compelling or most empowering emotion you've felt recently. Anger, love, sorrow, pain… whatever comes easiest to you. I want you to just… express that emotion for me. Weep, scream, howl , curse… or even… battlecry," she added the last as she considered the race she was working with. "Whatever is intrinsic; just release that feeling to the world around you. Whenever you're ready," she said gently.

Lotor watched with a keen eye as Allura took another step back from Tarla.

Allura's lips curled into a gentle smile as the princess hesitated.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," she said playfully. Tarla's wary expression broke and she shook her head once in response. She was exceptionally interested in learning as much about the strange woman as she could.

The heiress planted her feet comfortably and squared her shoulders. She inhaled deeply and released a deep-seated Drule warcry. The noise bellowed from her lungs and trembled the trees; lightning rained down from the sky and sparked fires all around her, scorching the earth. The fire burned recklessly around the princess, and both queen and king took a few steps back from the intensity of the heat.

As her cry ceased, Allura waved her hand across the land and the fire extinguished into steam, leaving the princess completely unharmed upon an untouched island in the charred circle of land around her.

"Oh! Did I do-"

"It's alright," Allura said. She was in front of the princess in a moment, grasping her shoulders and looking down into her eyes, shielding most of the destruction from her gaze. "You did, and it was magnificent. Well done," she commended earnestly, before the girl could panic.

Tarla could only nod up at the strange human woman in front of her. Never before had she been complimented on something by someone other than her father. Support from another female was a strange feeling. While families were often close, hers never had been.  Merla was quick to disassemble confidence, so she found the praise utterly disarming. Tarla wasn't sure whether she should embrace or continue distrust the queen for it.

Allura stepped back and paced in a slow circle through the blackened earth, contemplating what she saw. Tarla's eyes followed her carefully before she noticed the train of her garments.

"Your gown! It's dirty from the ash!"

Allura paused and looked over to the princess in shock. It took her a moment to realize what she was pointing to. She ruffled the hem of her floor-length gown as it dragged through the darkened soil.

"It's fine; it will wash out. And if not, it’s only a dress," she smiled. "No point in being afraid of getting my hands dirty."

Tarla just watched the queen with open surprise. She was remarkable, and unlike anyone she had ever met before. Both wise and kind, but also waifish and innocent at times… she was an anomaly she couldn't quite explain, and she continued to surprise her.

"So. Princess," Allura began, smiling kindly at the girl. "Here's my first analysis. You definitely have your father's temper-"

She paused at Lotor's laughter in the background. It was a full-bodied, deep-hearted laugh. The low tones reminded her of his victorious arrogance and the memory touched a hidden smile to her lips even as it stilled her heart for a second.

"And you're also born to lead. Not by blood: of course that is the case, but you're emotionally and spiritually destined for it, as well. You're drawn to places where you can focus and control a situation, though I would wager sometimes your anger gets the better of you," she finished. With a smile, she watched a moment longer. "How'd I do? Was I close?"

Tarla stared at the woman. She hedged her bets and decided that learning the magic was more important than keeping secrets from a potential threat.

"Impeccable," she admitted. "But… I would still like to see yours."

Allura's eyes flashed briefly and her lips twitched in amusement.

"Very well," she gestured for the young Drule to step back and the girl quickly moved to where her father was standing. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Allura took her place in the center of the charred circle.

She exhaled once, closing her eyes. The queen bowed her head reverently, centering her mind. Three beats ticked by in absolute silence before she tilted her head back. Her slender body bent backward and her spine arched as she exposed her soul to the sky above. Her lips parted and from the deepest part of her being, the strongest part of her heart, and the most fearsome part of her will, echoed a scream. It was neither battle cry nor banner for war. It was a true scream in every nature; brought forth as Allura touched with the darkest parts of her emotions and laid them bare.

The cry was heart-shattering. Pain etched into every vibrato note, the sound resonated off the far mountains, reflected off the still water and danced through the plains. It was a primal call, wretched with hurt and sorrow. It called forth images of agony, heartbreak and loss. It evoked feelings of terror and devastation. It was powerful enough to make both Drules physically cringe at the haunting memorial. As the last of her air left her lungs, her sorrowful song died on her lips. Allura paused and inhaled, recovering her breath. Her eyes opened and looked across the earth at Tarla.

"Stars above," the princess murmured as Lotor looked back to Allura. The queen was wrapped in a beautiful, jagged ice sculpture. From the water in the moat, a wave had arched out and wrapped around her, freezing in the process. Spikes shot out in all directions away from her, defensibly. Nestled in the center of a frosty core, Allura stood, the lethal spikes jutting out in all three-hundred-sixty degrees around her.

_Dangerous,_  Tarla thought, eyeing the beautiful, deadly and cold manifestation. It was lovely, she had to admit. Formidable and... hurt. If the magic embodied emotion, Allura's was decidedly defensive and _pained_.

Lotor exhaled, watching as her magic mirrored something cold, brittle and lethal. She was glorious. The pain etched into her scream was projected by the dangerous icicles circling her body. A few of the shards pointed inward, narrowly missing her soft frame. She was defended – and she _ached_. With a wave of her hand, the ice turned to water and fell to the earth around her harmlessly.

"There you have it," she murmured. She glanced from Tarla to catch Lotor's strange, haunted look once more. She tossed him a reassuring smile. "I suppose I shall begin at the beginning, to give you both a little more context."

Five ghostly orbs appeared in a semi circle behind Allura as she began her tale, each a color that reminded Lotor of one of the five lions.

"The core of elemental magic comes from the combination and mastery of five properties. It is not unique to Arus, many other planets across the galaxy are competent with it. Arus' climate, however, makes it easier for it to develop here. My father did not create the magic that he imbued into Voltron – he simply learned how to harness it from the environment. It's partially why I'm surprised you have found an affinity for it. It's not impossible, but typically the environment will help shape the type of craft."

One of the orbs flashed from behind her and appeared in between her palms. The other four disappeared as she began to speak of history. Her slender fingers traced over the sphere absentmindedly, almost affectionately.

"These five properties are typically represented by five elements. And each element has two sides to it. One is positive, and one is negative. The strength comes not from mastering the positive, but from _balancing the two sides_." The sphere in between her palms crackled yellow and glowed brightly.

"The five properties are the steadiness, the compassion, the macrocosm, the spark, and the charge." As she uttered each declaration, the orb shifted in color from yellow, to blue, to green, to red, and lastly to white. She paused and glanced over as Lotor found himself settling into the grass, sitting cross-legged.

An amused smile touched her lips. Never before would she have thought the proud Lotor would purposely take a seat upon the Arusian soil.

"The earth element represents steadiness," she continued as the orb vanished from her hands. "It is sturdy, strong, and supportive. It is the very foundation of everything to come. The element of water represents compassion. It is gentle, kind and nourishing. The element of nature represents the entirety of creation. Everything that is, was and ever will be. It is the love of life itself, the diversity of the world around us. Fire represents passion and dedication. It is the cry of the soldier, the king, and the martyr. It is the spark that starts the inferno. The sky heralds fortitude and the future. It's the charge that pushes everything forward. From the lightning, from the wind, come vision and determination," Allura finished.

Tarla looked thoughtful as she sat on the ground next to her father. Allura gathered the folds of her gown and wandered over to where they were, settling onto the earth before them, away from the charred circle.

"You have displayed before me, Tarla, a natural inclination toward fire and thunder," she said. "You show passion and vision, two exceedingly powerful elements, especially when combined. It makes for a strong, passionate leader."

"Is yours water?"

Allura smiled and nodded once.

"It made taking to the Blue Lion easier. The pilots of the lions very much embody their elements, even if they don't quite understand how they function. It's strange how that happens, most of the time we don't pick them. We're handed the key and it… it just  _works._  I can't imagine flying anything other than Blue Lion, but I didn't choose it."

"Perhaps it chose you," Tarla commented. Lotor glanced down to his daughter in surprise. The young heiress was clearly absorbed in the fantastical story of elemental magic. It was proving to be far more interesting than Haggar's magic, at least.

"I took the place of a pilot injured in combat. There was," she paused, a chill flooding down her spine as she considered the way the chain of events had played out. Sven had presented himself as a target. It could have easily been Lance or Hunk. The timing had been perfect to align Allura into Blue Lion.

"Perhaps you're not incorrect," she amended, nodding to the princess. "That neither matters here nor there," she explained. "What does matter is that you are exceedingly unique and show a very powerful predisposition," she said.

Tarla blinked, glancing from Allura to her father before looking back to the queen.

"What do you mean?"

"You are manipulating two elements at the same time – fire  _and_  lightning. That is very, very rare and even for a practiced user, is intrinsically difficult to do. I can do two after decades of practice, but it is an enormous drain on my energy to do so. You… are doing it already before you even knew what it was," she finished, her bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "Effortlessly."

"That is fantastic news! I can use it to protect my people! Show me how to control it!" Her voice raised in pitch as she grew excited, jumping to her feet. Allura just watched her thoughtfully for a moment.

"There's more I should tell you first before we get into the practicum of it all," she said. Tarla glanced down at Allura sitting on the ground. As she folded her legs and retook her seat, Allura continued.

"As I said, it's a double-edged sword. There are both good and bad aspects to the power. And I don't mean good and evil – that's all relative. Take fire for example – it seems to be your primary component. It is the embodiment of passion, will, and drive. It is also anger and hatred. It can burn your enemies, but it can also consume _you_. The trick to controlling it… is balancing it. Holding back just suffocates the power inside you. It's fine to be angry. It's reasonable to hate. Acknowledging – and then releasing – that emotion is the best way to control it. It helps you focus."

"So how do I control it then?" The young Drule eyed the queen warily.

"Practice. Practice conjuring, practice controlling, practice shaping. There are more things we can go into, but if we touch on them today, it will drain your energy too much," the queen warned. "You are both welcome to stay as long as you feel inclined, and I will work with Tarla as long as she so desires," Allura promised them both.

"I  _do_  feel exhausted," Tarla admitted after a moment. She hadn't realized how tired she felt. The queen only nodded in response.

"You are working with something that is both physically and emotionally tied to you. It will cost you to use it. That is partly why it's imperative to master it so you can be precise with your execution," she explained. "Less energy wasted in that case." She smiled genuinely at the princess.

Tarla contemplated her words for a moment before glancing to her father.

"Can we stay? I want to learn this," she pleaded. Lotor looked startled and nodded before looking to the beaming Allura.

"Excellent, I recommend ending for today on this, or it will deplete you. I've thrown a lot of information at you in a short amount of time. Do you have any questions for me?" Allura turned her attention on the princess. Tarla considered everything carefully.

"What's the negative side to compassion?" Still subtly eager to ferret out any weaknesses in the queen, Tarla chose her question carefully. Allura smiled, her expression far away.

"Incidentally, it has two. Too much misplaced compassion can end in jaded, frozen hearts. Too much well-placed compassion ends in surrender because you've given everything away to someone else. People prone to compassion sometimes find it difficult to be selfish," she explained.

"Are you selfish?" Tarla eyed the queen warily. Allura's lips quirked into a weak smile.

"As needed," she supplied mysteriously.

"Have you ever been cruel?" Tarla's question surprised Lotor and the Drule king fixed the queen with his gaze. Allura hesitated in her response.

"Yes," she admitted at last. Tarla smiled triumphantly. The goddess among humans was mortal yet; she could understand cruelty.

"When have you ever been cruel, Allura," Lotor leaned forward, casting her with a disbelieving look. "I can't imagine you even capable of that."

She just smiled impishly back to him.

"Things have changed since I last knew you," she repeated back to him. Lotor found himself growing frustrated with the mantra. He craved to know the queen more, devour her world and knowledge, and yet she still held him at arm's length. Not that he could blame her. Their history was rocky at best.

"Are we finished?" Tarla regarded the queen and Allura nodded.

"For now, yes, I believe that is best."

"May I explore, Father?" The young princess fixed her gaze on the other Drule and he stared at her for a moment in surprise.

"I don't see why not," he acquiesced.

At his approval, the young princess bolted off across the grassy land. Lotor moved smoothly to the queen's side as both rulers rose to their feet.

"She'll be safe?"

"The only threat encountered across the plains of Arus have been Drule in origin," she murmured softly. "She'll be fine," she reaffirmed, watching as the princess vaulted over boulders in her path.

Lotor turned and looked down at the slip of a woman standing regally next to him. Her eyes remained on his daughter as she scaled trees higher and greener than she had ever seen before.

"She's lovely," Allura commented after a moment, starling the king. "Her spirit, her appetite for knowledge… all of it. She's wonderful. You and Merla have done well."

Lotor felt his stomach still at the mention of his wife. If Allura didn't notice the hitch in his breathing, she caught his strange silence. Slowly, she turned to fix her gaze up at him.

"How  _are_  you two doing, anyway?"

"We manage," he supplied uncomfortably. Her endless blue eyes didn't waver from his for a full minute. She glanced back wordlessly as Tarla launched herself from a rock outcropping and dove into the fresh, cold water of the moat.

" _Tarla!_ "

Lotor's cry surprised Allura. She glanced to his panic-stricken face. Before she knew why, Allura was already sprinting toward the water's edge. She didn't understand the compulsion, but the terror in a father's voice drove her to move.

She dove headfirst in after the young princess and after a mere two seconds of searching underwater, she grasped the girl and hauled her to the surface. The princess gasped for air as soon as it was available, and with a few effortless strokes later, Allura had brought the princess to the earth and Lotor was kneeling beside her, concerned.

"How did you know she couldn't swim?" He looked to the queen in surprise. Allura shook her head once, the water droplets flinging from her hair.

"I didn't. I heard the fear in your voice and just acted." She watched as Tarla coughed and caught her breath. Allura's arm behind the girl's back supported her as she coughed up the water from the moat. Allura looked back to the girl before she caught the look on Lotor's face.

Tarla blinked up into the concerned face of the queen of Arus.

"I…" she trailed off, still catching her breath. "I didn't even think," she murmured.

"We don't have large bodies of freestanding water on Doom," Lotor explained to Allura. "If there is, it is not hospitable to swim in." The queen nodded and glanced back to the shocked princess.

"I don't know why I thought that was a good idea. It looked so inviting… you  _saved_  me," she finished, looking at Allura in open shock.

"Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?"

"Thank you," Tarla murmured instead of answering her question. Allura leaned back and allowed Lotor to take her place holding the girl as she recovered herself.

"You were faster than me," he said, looking over the top of Tarla's head at Allura. The queen just shrugged.

"Instinct, I suppose. I didn't even think on it, I just acted. I didn't realize she couldn't swim… I just knew something was wrong. Can _you_ swim?" She raised an eyebrow at the king.

"Yes, though I don't much care for it. I just never had the opportunity to teach her."

"Would you like to learn that as well, Tarla?" Allura turned her eyes down to the princess sitting in the grass between her and the worried king. The heiress bobbed her head up and down in response.

"Yes, the water was very pleasant, and I dislike having an environment in which I am at a disadvantage," she explained. Allura giggled softly.

"So very Drule of you, Tarla. Of course. Let's head back to the castle and find some swimwear. I'm liable to drown in there myself if this gown absorbs any more water," she murmured. Lotor found himself surprised by the realization that Allura had been quicker and more efficient at rescuing his daughter, despite the hindrance of several layers of fabric around her body.

She rose to her feet, wet hair plastered down her back. An amused smile still laced her lips as she fluffed out her soaked gown, sending water droplets flying. Her two companions followed her as she led the way back to the castle.

Tarla walked quietly beside her father, mulling over the recent turn of events.

"Mother wouldn't have done that, you know," she said under her breath.

"I know," he added, watching the sunlight shimmer off the damp hair of the woman walking in front of them. She gave no indication she heard their quiet conversation behind her. "I know," he reaffirmed.

"How _exactly_ do you know her," the princess whispered back.

"We have a long history," he hedged. He wasn't entirely certain he knew how to answer his daughter's questions.

Allura spun on heel in front of the door to the castle as she pulled it open.

"Alright, I'm going to go dry off and change, let's meet back here in a half hour and we can all go swimming. It's a lovely day out for it!" She smiled beautifully at the two and Lotor found himself struck by the magnificence of it once more. "I'll have some swimwear found for you both," she said after a moment.

"Don't worry about mine," Lotor said dismissively. He watched as Tarla took off for her room, excited at the prospect of enjoying the water. Allura laughed quietly. She started to turn away when he touched her elbow gently. Pausing, she turned to look at him curiously.

"Thank you," he said earnestly. Allura's eyes widened in shock and she stepped back away from him stiffly. He frowned. "What is it?"

"I…" She touched her chest lightly with her palm, the same motion she had made when she first saw him. "That isn't something I thought I would ever hear you say, is all. At least sincerely," she added, dropping her hand back to her side.

"Tarla is very important to me," he explained carefully, his intense eyes never leaving hers.

"I… I'll see you in a little while," she said to the king, her voice faltering beneath his presence. Lotor leaned against the wall and watched as she made her way back to her chambers. He folded his arms across his chest thoughtfully. He had anticipated his visit to Arus would be unpredictable, but the degree of it was staggering and he found himself constantly in a state of surprise.

_It's really not so surprising when it comes to her,_  he thought as his usual smirk graced his lips.


	6. Submerge

Allura was the last to rejoin her small entourage. Tarla was wrapped in one of Allura's luxurious robes. Her smaller stature allowed the human-sized garments fit her well. Lotor remained unchanged, and Allura had taken to flowing white cotton pants and a pink cotton shirt. Under her arm she carried three large towels.

"Come," she gestured outside with an enthusiastic smile. Tarla shot the queen a truly magnificent smile – perhaps the first genuine appreciation she had felt – before bolting out of the castle and running back toward the water's edge.

In an uncharacteristically gentleman way, Lotor offered to carry the large bundle in Allura's arms. She paused and stared up into his eyes for a moment.

"Who  _are_  you," she murmured, floored yet again by his surprising gestures.

"Who I've always been, Allura," he murmured, reaching up to touch her cheek carefully. She stiffened on instinct but did not step back away from him. To her shock, he simply brushed the back of his hand along her jawline in a feather-light gesture. She gaped openly up at him, surprised by the faint flutter in her heart. "Just… calmer," he added as she stepped back warily. The queen hugged the towels to her chest protectively, eyeing him with doubt.

His hand fell back to his side as she wordlessly turned and made her way toward the water. Tarla was standing on the edge, robe discarded without shame and bouncing around in a navy blue one-piece swimsuit. She kept splashing into the water up to her ankles before leaping out.

"She certainly has your…" Allura trailed off for a moment as she fought to conjure the appropriate word. "…determination," she finished. Lotor laughed almost evilly next to her, causing an all-too familiar shiver to run down her spine. She glanced to him out of the corner of her eye warily and he just flashed his fangs at her in a sinister grin.

Allura swallowed nervously and shook her head once, exhaling to calm her rising heart rate and body temperature as she approached the princess.

"Shall we begin, Tarla?"

The young girl nodded with unbridled excitement. Allura continued to wander around the moat for a small distance until she found a place where the ground sloped gently and smoothly right into the water. It yielded plenty of space to work in the water while remaining shallow. She tossed the towels down in the grass under the shade of a nearby tree.

"Let's enter the water here, it's the most… _advantageous_ ground," she explained, intentionally choosing words that would resonate with the war-princess she was tutoring. Tarla nodded. She waited impatiently at the bank for the queen.

Meanwhile, Allura stared at the pile of folded towels on the ground nervously. She stepped out of the plain white flats on her feet and was rapidly regretting her choice of usual swimwear. After chewing on her bottom lip nervously, she quickly flung her shirt off and onto the pile of towels. She could feel Lotor's gaze burning into her bare skin as she attempted to stand nonchalantly in her bright pink bikini top.

With mounting embarrassment, she wiggled her hips out of the cotton pants and gave them the same fate as her shirt. Tilting her chin up high, Allura made her way proudly toward the water's edge in only her scant swimwear. She was quick to pass off the pink hue on her skin as the beginning of sunburn… and  _not_  the king's heated gaze.

He said nothing, to his credit, and simply settled into the shade near the towels to watch. Allura's body was still slender and soft; she had kept up with as much training as her endurance could handle, despite not seeing combat in years. She refused to fold her arms across her body self-consciously; Allura knew she wouldn't be nearly so uneasy had anyone other than Lotor been present and she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

She paused as she stepped into the water.  After a moment taken to pile her hair up on top of her head, she waded out into the refreshing moat and gestured for Tarla to follow.

"It's alright. You're completely safe until you're over your head. We aren't going out that far yet," she explained. Allura surprised herself as she shifted into a mentoring mode –  _mothering_ , her mind corrected automatically, startling her. She shook her head once.  _She's not my daughter,_  the queen reminded herself, stunned that the thought had even struck her.

Tarla stayed near Allura, fascinated by the refreshing feel of cool, clean water. Her palms splashed against the surface, creating ripples and droplets. Allura laughed and sent a few light splashes back at her. Her patience was near-infinite as she watched the princess acclimate to the water.

"Alright, here," Allura stopped their wading when the water was near waist-depth. "First, let's get comfortable with being underwater. That's probably the most important part – to not panic if it happens, either purposely or accidentally. So, here, with our feet still on the ground, we'll take a deep breath and go under together, alright?"

Tarla looked a little hesitant; she was still flustered from her last brush with total submergence. Allura thoughtfully considered the situation.

"How about I hold your hands while you go under; that way I can watch. If you need help, I'll be right here," she offered.

Tarla scoffed at the queen at first, nearly insulted by the implication. She glanced over to her father, surprised to see a strange expression on his face. Allura followed her gaze and simply turned a deep shade of red as she recognized the look. She coughed, returning her attention to Tarla. The princess glanced back and was stunned by the genuine sincerity in the woman's words.

Allura placed her hands, palm up, out in front of her for Tarla to take.

"I'll protect you," she promised softly. Tarla started to hurl insults at the queen for her spiteful words, but the haunted look in the older woman's eyes stopped her. It wasn't a taunt, as it would’ve been from a Drule. It was honest and she found it comforting in a way she had never felt before. Allura wasn't insulting her, highlighting weakness nor lording strength over her.

She was…  _authentic._

With a nod, Tarla placed her palms into Allura's. Her gentle fingers curled around the princess's palms with a softness that hid a formidable strength. With a light touch, Allura conveyed a ferocity that was not inherently obvious at first glance.

"When you're ready, deep breath. Stay under as long as you feel comfortable. If it's just a second, there's nothing wrong with that," she encouraged gently. The princess steeled her nerves and inhaled deeply before plunging herself underwater.

The first spark was panic.

She remembered the sensation from when she had leapt into the moat and she was _afraid_. As another instant ticked by and the warmth of Allura's hands around hers gave her a confidence she hadn't had before. Tarla remained underwater, relaxing at the strange sensation of being weightless. Equally strange was the feeling of trust she had for the woman standing sentinel above her.

"That was incredible!" Tarla cried out as she surfaced suddenly, water droplets flying everywhere. Allura turned her head to the side, laughing quietly at her enthusiasm. "It was like being in space, but… …I don't know! There's nothing like that! It's… comforting but powerful, gentle but supportive," she gasped out the words, trying to find the right way to describe the new sensation she had felt.

"Water can be amazing," she murmured, releasing the princess's hands now that she was above the water.

Lotor leaned back against the tree, kicking one boot over the other as he relaxed, watching his daughter and Allura. He was disarmed by how…  _right_  the two of them looked together, and he realized it wasn't only because he still craved the queen. There was a connection between the two women that he had never seen between Tarla and Merla before.

His eyes skimmed her porcelain skin as she demonstrated what different strokes looked like before guiding Tarla a little further out to practice them.

Allura truly was an unattainable anomaly. For everything the Drule Empire was – that he was – she was the striking opposite. In only one way had they ever been similar; she, too, despite her claims to the contrary, was also a hardened warrior. While Lotor may have trained for it his whole life and she had not, her circumstances had led her to become one just the same.

He folded his hands behind his head as he smirked.  _As lovely as ever, my dear,_  he thought to himself. The king's eyes widened as Tarla fell underwater and Allura was quick to help her back up. He frowned slightly.

"Perhaps we're alike in two ways," he amended softly to himself. Allura's concern and admiration of his daughter in so short of time was impressive, but not entirely surprising given her nature. In just a day, she outshone what Merla had demonstrated over thirteen years. He smirked again.

* * *

Tarla swam laps around the moat, diving underwater and swimming back to the surface to catch her breath. Allura was treading water in the center, cheering on the young girl and watching closely for any kind of struggle, prepared to aid if needed.

It had taken less than an hour for the young princess to gain the confidence to conquer the water. Tarla had learned her limitations and her bounds and constantly pushed them. She knew what fatigue felt like before it set in; she knew when to hover close to the shoreline and when to venture into the depths. Allura was eager to give her all the knowledge she required and desired.

Allura tilted her head to the side and laughed as Tarla climbed out of the water and backed up before running toward the edge and practicing a dive into deeper water. The bun on Allura's head hadn't held up long in the water, and with her blond hair floating around her like a mantle, she reached up and applauded the princess's performance while maintaining a comfortable tread with just the muscles in her legs.

Without warning, a hollow, metallic click rang out from under water. Lotor noticed it, sitting upright suddenly. Allura froze but Tarla kept swimming.

"Time to get out," she ordered suddenly. The princess balked at the strange directive from the queen. " _Now,_ " she insisted, pointing at the bank right behind Tarla. Allura started making her way to the nearest edge with strong, powerful strokes from her arms. The princess hoisted herself out and ran around the outside of the moat toward her father, feeling insulted at the command but with threads of concern. He handed her a towel wordlessly.

Allura was barely on her feet out of the water before the Blue Lion launched from the center, creating a torrent of waves and currents that would have given even Allura a struggle to stay up, provided the massive beast didn't outright collide with her body.

She reached behind her absentmindedly for her towel, staring up at the lion as it soared into the sky. When she didn't find the towel, she glanced behind her. Lotor had it on his shoulder with a teasing grin on his face.

The frosty glare she gave him quickly ended what would have been an enjoyable game of banter for the king as he handed it to her. She toweled off and tucked it around her body under her arms. Scooping up her clothes, she stepped into her shoes and stalked furiously up toward the castle.

"She's cross," Tarla commented in surprise, standing beside her father.

"It's a very rare occurrence," he admitted. "Come." He followed after her at a lazy jog, Tarla just behind him.

* * *

Allura thrust open the castle doors and stormed inside, dropping her clothes and kicking off her wet shoes. A nearby maid quickly scooped them up, glancing worriedly at the two Drules hot on the queen's heels.

The queen made her way straight for the control center just as Lotor caught up to the towel-clad woman. She slammed her hand down on the communication tower.

"Lieutenant James A Jones!"

"Y… yes Your Highness?" The young pilot stammered before coming up on the screen.

"What are your screening procedures before a water launch?" The tanned pilot turned a sickly ashen shade when he saw his queen standing in a towel. He stammered incoherently and she just shook her head once. "Not your fault, you followed orders," she said dismissively. "Lance!"

The pilot trainer came on the screen with a smirk.

"I don't usually see you looking so undress-" he paused suddenly at the unchecked fury on Allura's face, the snarky joke dying on his lips. "Oh shit, you were in the moat."

"Have you even  _talked_  to him about screening procedures before launch? I mean, I realize it's not something  _you_  ever had to do with Red Lion. People don't typically vacation in a volcano, but  _Lance,_ " she stressed with frustration. "I was giving a swimming lesson, for stars' sake!"

Lance stared at the shaking queen before glancing to where the princess was standing in the back of the control room near her father.

"My deepest and most sincere apologies, Princess," he said with a strange reverence as he addressed Tarla directly. "I clearly need to work more closely with my charges and make sure they understand that launching lions without clearing the launch area first can be… catastrophic. Was everyone okay?" He glanced back to Allura who had softened with his genuine concern.

"Yes. Fortunately, it's a sound I know very well. I knew the second Jonesy was in the chute and on the way to Blue Lion, so we had time to move. Please be more careful," she reiterated. He nodded once.

"He and I have a lot to work on. I'm glad everyone is okay," he added before he cut the feed. Allura just sighed, bracing her forehead in her palm as her shoulders trembled slightly.

"Sorry about that," she said after regaining her composure and turning to face Tarla. "If you'd like to keep swimming, we can go out a bit further to one of the smaller lakes. There won't be a concern of an impromptu lion launch there," she added. The tireless smile once again graced her lips.

"How do you do that," Tarla asked after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Allura tilted her head to the side slightly.

"You always smile, no matter what. You're always… _nice_ ," she said in confusion.

Allura only grinned in response and just shook her head once.

"It's what I do," she explained mysteriously. "I do it because I can't… not."

"How do you even exist," Tarla breathed incredulously, baffled by her. She behaved opposite any Drule she had ever met, and from what she had learned of humans, she was an equal anomaly to them, as well. Humans were fearful cowards – Allura was _fearless_.

"I don't believe I understand your question. You ask an awful lot of confusing ones," the queen replied with yet another smile. "But I would love to hear more of them," she added, a magnificent sparkle in her eyes. Tarla gaped openly up at the strange woman.

"Can we practice the magic again? Can you…" She paused, considering her question carefully. "Can you teach me all of the elements?"

Allura bobbed her head up and down in response and began guiding her entourage from the control room. Droplets of water fell to the floor behind the two females. Most of the errant water had been lost to the towels and the hike to the castle, but the occasional stray puddle shimmered in the interior lights of the castle.

"Mastery of the magic requires just that," she explained as she walked. "Voltron is the balance of all five into a single unit. My father created something that no human was capable of doing. We can learn to use the five elements. We can blend them… but to fully, truly _balance_ them… would be impossible for any sentient creature. At least one of this realm," she added.

"Allura," Lotor began by stepping closer to her as they moved down a hallway. She paused and turned to look at him, a cryptic smile on her lips.

"It's one thing to be able to use them all. It's another to master them all. It's yet a step above to  _balance_  them all. That… is what gods do, Lotor." When his face remained impassive, she continued gently.

"For example - I could never contain both hatred and compassion inside me in equal amounts. I would be torn apart. I can, of course, have both. I may even uncomfortably express both at the same time, but one will always dominate the other. Vastly, in that specific case."

"The strength and sturdiness of the earth cannot exist in equal parts with the fleeting nature of the wind and sky," Tarla murmured. Allura's eyes flashed from Lotor to his daughter.

"Clever girl. Exactly right. You can master them all individually. You can even combine a couple. But to call forth all five of the forces at the same time in perfect balance…"

Tarla strode toward the queen, reveling in her fortitude.

"It would be absolutely impossible. But… you said I have two that I use," she continued.

Allura smiled.

"You do. Fire and lightning. They are compatible. You are the fire in the sky, the flame on the breeze. You ignite everything in your path and set into motion every chain of events. You are passion and vision. Each element is stronger than one and weaker than another."

"Water and fire," Lotor murmured, catching on as he related the elements themselves back to Allura's earlier self-assessment. She nodded to him.

"While I can conjure either individually, it is not a combination that comes naturally. Fury and fear are in the same category – both at the same time is… exceptionally volatile," she reiterated.

"What's the order," Tarla asked. "I mean, which one is the strongest?"

"None, not alone," Allura answered openly. "Water extinguishes fire. Fire burns nature. Nature reclaims the earth. Earth is immovable by the sky…"

"And sky – lightning – strikes the water?" Tarla finished.

"The Black Lion could drop Blue Lion from the air with a single, well-placed shot. And if needed – and I definitely contemplated it sometimes – I could have grounded Lance in his Red Lion with a strategically aimed water blast. But, regardless," she waved her hand dismissively. "Fire and Lightning are not beside each other in the cycle of strength and so they complement each other."

"Hmm," Tarla mused, considering all the information she was learning.

"It would be extraordinarily difficult for an individual to be able to comfortably balance two that were side by side. The idea of balancing all five is…"

"God-like," Tarla finished, finally understanding why only a robot composed of five separate humans in five separate pieces could handle the task. Allura just nodded. She folded her hands in front of her and just smiled at the princess.

"What," she asked, confused by the queen's expression.

"Sorry. It… it feels good to be able to share this. This is the lesson I wish I had had with my father, and I… struggled to learn it all for myself. I'm… I'm happy that there is someone I can share it with now," she finished, a blush staining her cheeks as she regarded the young Drule openly.

Lotor didn't miss the reverent look on Allura's face as she regarded his daughter.

"Can I… may I explore your castle? ...I like libraries." The young Drule glanced around the hallway curiously.

"Tarla, that's not-" Lotor began chiding his daughter before Allura intervened.

"Of course you may. You might want to change into something dry, first," she said gently. Tarla glanced down, reminded of her bathing suit. She nodded.

"Is there anywhere I should avoid?" The question the heiress asked was polite, but Allura could see through the gentle veil on her face. She knew if she were to ask Tarla to avoid anywhere specific, the young Drule was bound to go directly there. She was far too much like her father to skirt anything forbidden.

"No," she said with a smile on her face. "I keep very few secrets, and those guard themselves," she explained demurely at the perplexed look on the girl's face. Allura could see the adventurous determination wash over the princess before she turned and bolted off toward her room.

Allura smiled after her before turning in Lotor's direction, surprised to find he had covered the remaining distance between them and was standing right beside her.

"Allura," he murmured, placing his palms on her bare shoulders. She stared up at him.

"I have questions for you, still," she uttered, watching as his serpentine eyes narrowed on her.

"And I, you," he whispered back. Their bodies were close, nearly brushing against each other as he watched her closely.

"I need to change," she said after a moment, stepping back. She blushed slightly at the coolness she felt in the absence of his touch.

She turned away from the fearsome Drule leader and made her way back toward her own private chambers to change her clothes once more.

"I'll meet you on the third floor library," she called over her shoulder with a wave of her hand.

* * *

Allura took her time changing out of her swimwear in her bedroom. After hanging the pieces up to dry, she stepped into the shower. Warm water struck her body and she instantly relaxed.

While gently working soap through her hair, she allowed herself to contemplate the bizarre reality she found herself in. Nearly a quarter of a century had gone by since Drule activity had ceased. There had been no warning and no explanation.

Allura couldn't find any reason to be disappointed that the plundering of her planet had mysteriously stopped, but she hadn't ever been able to understand _why_.

She had always speculated it had something to do with the change of power in Castle Doom – the last fearsome strike against Arus had been the last of Zarkon's. Prince Lotor had been involved, as he was so prone to do, but Voltron had quickly driven the robeast back. It had been a battle like any other, no anomalies and no foreshadowing of its finality.

Skirmishes between Doom and Arus were easily every few days; the evil prince or the terrifying witch would appear like clockwork to try some new ruse or creature out against her skies in an effort to claim the planet. 

_And you,_  her mind added. She frowned.

Allura had first noticed the lull in action when a week had slipped by with no hostile activity. She had grown worried something large and dangerous was looming on her horizon when a month passed. It wasn't until six weeks later she had learned of Zarkon's passing and Lotor's coronation. Still, another three years had crept by before she received an invitation to his wedding, much to her shock.

She had watched with open surprise as all kinds of races mingled and celebrated the union between Queen Merla and King Lotor. He had made neither move to corner her, nor any strike against her. Allura had left Castle Doom with even more questions than when she had arrived.

With the union between the two, fierce empires, her concern of an attack on Arus was renewed.

None ever came.

Months bled into years, and not another sound echoed from the heart of the Drule Empire in her direction. Most Galaxy Alliance planets experienced the same, strange phenomenon. Even still, she had waited, worried, to see his next move.

"And now he's made it," she murmured aloud. "Twenty-five years later."  _Just as I finally dare take a deep breath - just as soon as I dare to relax._  She finished rinsing out her hair and washing her body. After wringing the locks free of excess water, she stepped from the shower and wrapped herself in a towel.

"Except instead of warships, he's brought… a daughter," she continued, utterly bewildered by that particular development.  _You're not... disappointed… that he's settled down with Merla, are you?_ Her inner voice piped up at the alien sensation that rushed through her body at the thought. It was both a gentle heat and a chilly emptiness and it baffled her.

"'Relieved' is the word I was looking for," she muttered, talking to her expression in the mirror as she settled into her chair before the vanity. The pearl and porcelain comb she held glided deftly through her damp hair, detangling it gracefully. Once finished, she braided it back from her face before piling it up in her characteristic style.

Once more, she frowned again at herself, not entirely sure she believed her own thoughts. 

_Of course I'm relieved._

An elegant eyeroll later, Allura rose from the vanity and moved toward her wardrobe. She forwent her gowns and instead opted for pants. Pink leggings hugged her muscles while a white tunic draped her torso, complimented by a slim pink belt. The tunic was sleeveless and she left her arms bare. With a heavy smile, she settled the slender, golden crown on the top of her head, tucking the wings of it into her bun for security.

The ornament was a true crown and had replaced the jeweled tiara she had bore as a princess. It arched off the crest of her head much like a halo, dainty and glittering, but otherwise elegantly simple and devoid of showiness.

Standing regally before the floor-length mirror, Allura eyed herself apprehensively. She had not slept well the night before knowing King Lotor was resting within the very walls of her castle. However, she hoped that in keeping her enemy close, she might come to know his motives better.

"Guess I shall see why he's here. Why  _now_. Perhaps he'll answer a question or two, for once," she murmured. She reached for the handle to her door and paused, glancing to her dresser. A nervousness settled over her as she contemplated.

Two long strides covered the distance and Allura opened the topmost drawer. She dusted off the lid to a box before opening it.

Allura withdrew the contents and after taking a moment to check alignment and functionality, she added a piece to her ensemble that she had not worn in ages.

With her pistol snugly at her hip, she nodded once more.

"Can't be too careful right now," she reasoned with herself as a sense of guilt washed over her. The Arusian had spent nearly a full day's worth of time in their company and hadn't felt any sense of hostility – save the blatant confusion from Tarla. But she knew if she wanted to push her luck – and potentially Lotor's temper – to get the answers she needed, she'd rather be over-prepared than caught by surprise.

Without another thought on the matter, she vacated her bedchambers and sought the library where presumably the warlord awaited her.


	7. Emissary

Lotor turned as the door to the sun room swished. The window in front of him that opened out to the Arusian landscape was suddenly far less interesting now that he had company.

His war-hewed eyes narrowed on the weapon that had not been at her side before. Lotor stared at the familiar pistol intently, _pointedly_ , before returning his gaze to her stoic face.

"What," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest as she let the door slide shut behind her, clicking in place with a finality that reminded her who she was with. 

 _Alone_.

"You don't trust me?" He smiled lazily at her.

The guarded look she returned him answered his question.

After a moment of tension passed between them, Allura sighed and dropped her arms to her side before walking further into the room. She took the initiative to break the uncomfortable silence as she eased herself into a winged arm chair, retaking the same seat she had occupied the day before.

The room was designed to facilitate small, casual meetings or to allow for a quiet place for study. A handful of chairs courted the low central table, and he could easily see why she would prefer to meet in the room. Shelves of books flanked the walls and the spacious windows revealed the landscape outside.

It didn't strike him as odd that Allura would find comfort and refuge among anthologies and testaments. She had always seemed to prefer the company of knowledge.

"I'll get right to my point," she finally said after the silence dragged on. "I want to know why you're here."

He frowned at the direct question.

"Still giving me orders, I see," he murmured, settling into the chair opposite her.

"Lotor, I mean it," she exhaled in frustration, leaning forward in her chaise. The day before, she had been exceptionally cautious, but the time she had spent with Tarla and around the king had eased her concern.

While still wary of the circumstances surrounding his sudden reappearance in her life, she was no longer concerned for a strike against herself or her planet. "I don't... ...I don't know what's going on," she admitted honestly, allowing her confusion to show.

"I'm here because Tarla needs help, and I didn't know who else to ask," he answered her openly. Surprise hitched his voice at her struggle.

"I mean. I realize that, and that's... wonderful, that I can help her," she stammered with her words, trying to find the most precise way to phrase her insecurity. As she trailed off, Lotor simply waited for her to find her language. An emotional war waged across her face as her mind flustered with the inner turmoil.

"For stars' sake, it's been _twenty years_ ," she finally articulated bluntly. "What have you been doing this whole time? I finally - _just finally_ \- start to let my guard down, to believe maybe, just... just maybe, by random chance, things will be okay... and... and _you fall out of my skies_." Her words were a whisper and she glanced up to fix him, a familiar lethality behind her eyes.

She was ready for combat.  Allura was prepared to throw herself back into a war, to give everything she had to protect-

"I got married," he said offhandedly, his gaze never leaving hers. He recognized the alarm behind her vision and kept his tone intentionally causal.

"Twenty. Years," she reiterated.

Lotor hesitated, confused. Her tone tensed in a way that implied anger.

In an effort to avoid an unseen minefield, he shifted the topic deftly.

"What's happened on Arus," the Drule inquired, turning her question back on her.

"Everything and nothing," she replied. "We've prospered, it's amazing. We have all sorts of things we hadn't been able to establish before. Museums to research centers to hospitals... townships are flourishing and my people are able to be... _people_. They're not only able to leave their homes but to travel the stars if they like," she finished with a distant smile.

"And that pleases you," he supplied helpfully. Allura blinked, returning her faraway look to him.

"More than anything."

"Good."

She frowned slightly before rising from the chair. Lotor remained seated and watched as she paced around the room.  Allura processed all the information before coming to stand before one of the large windows.

"But that's only half the question, isn't it?" He realized the part of her answer that she didn't explain. "What have  _you_  been doing all this time, Allura?"

"Absolutely nothing," she said with surprising openness and no hesitation. "My entire life has revolved around standing sentinel. Waiting. Waiting for the fire to fall from the sky.  Waiting for the earth to open up. I have... not changed, Lotor. I've just been holding my breath."

"Waiting for what?"

"Anything. Everything.  _You_ ," she said, reaching up to touch her temple as the confusion weighed on her. Her eyes flashed back to him suddenly over her shoulder. "I didn't understand why the Drule Empire ceased its assault on Arus. Therefore, I could not assume that it had. I couldn't bring myself to believe that as even possible. And yet… you did not bring a fleet," she added.

Realization dawned on him.

"You've… you've been on high alert this whole time," he muttered, collapsing his face into his palm in frustration. "Stupid," he whispered, seemingly more to himself. "I thought that was a metaphor. You were being literal," he rationalized, raising his eyes to look off in the distance, his palm still clasped over his mouth. He exhaled through his nose as everything clicked into place.

"So you just… that was it then? Zarkon passed away and… that ended the war?" She looked almost hopeful as he raised his eyes to glance at her.

"Something like that," he hedged, his hand muffling the words slightly.

"What aren't you telling me," she murmured, stepping away from the window to approach him cautiously. "There's something else, isn't there?"

He rested his chin on his folded fists, his elbows settled on his knees as he regarded the stunning woman openly.

Allura's heart froze in her chest and a cold dread settled over her as a sound picked up in the distance. She turned away from him and moved back to the window. Lotor watched her exhale dejectedly.

"Well, I suppose that answers my question then, doesn't it?" She glared lethally at him, her palm suddenly on her pistol at her side. Her voice held a familiar, preparatory lilt for battle and he recognized the way her shoulders curled forward slightly – she was ready for combat.

The atmosphere in the room had become unexpectedly hostile.

"Allura, what-" He stopped mid-sentence when he understood what she saw.

A Drule war brigade was on her horizon.

"That's not mine," he yelped suddenly, his voice rising in pitch as she drew her weapon and leveled it at him.

"I recognize your ships anywhere," she hissed out, barely a whisper.

The door to the sun room burst open suddenly and a wide-eyed, breathless Tarla stood in the entry way. She gasped, eyeing the way her father had risen from the arm chair and the queen had her firearm aimed in his direction.

"Mother's here!"

* * *

"I told you," Lotor muttered to Allura as the two jogged side by side out of the meeting room and headed out to face the new visitor touching down on the far side of the moat.

"I wasn't wrong – they're still your ships," she pointed out tartly, the pistol re-secured at her hip.  “And they _still_ might be an invasion."

She stopped at the main doors to her castle when Lotor grasped her forearm. The hold was familiar and while it had historically been controlling and possessive, it only seemed to contain a sense of concern.

"Let me go first," he said.

His authoritative tone echoed out into the room as he glanced between the two females beside him. Tarla nodded once in agreement, but Allura's captive hand only balled into a fist in response.

"Queen Merla has just brought warships to my planet and _you_ want to go first?" She glared.

"Allura, that's  _exactly_  why."

Her jaw tensed and eventually she released her fist.

"Very well," she acquiesced. He let go of her arm in response and turned to the doors. After pushing them open, he strode out into the blinding sunlight.

Merla and her guardswomen were standing halfway across the bridge, waiting for him.

"Oh good, you  _are_  here," she drawled out irritably. "Have you been here this whole time? What in all that's evil are you doing?"

"I thought you had made plans," he struck back with the same lack of cordiality, calling out across the path as he moved toward her.

Coming to stop in front of her, his own stance mirrored hers with his arms crossed over his chest. He glanced over his shoulder as Tarla came to stand a few paces behind him, her hands folded in front of her.

"Mother, what has-"

"Now Tarla. You've been away for less than two days and have already forgotten your manners?"

"Merla," Lotor growled out as Tarla bowed at the waist before the woman and presented the formal greeting to a queen.

"Oh, you're here, too," she snapped as Allura came to stand a few paces behind the group of Drules. Her blue eyes flickered to the landing party behind the war queen.

Allura only smiled.

"It's good to see you again, too, Merla."

Tarla felt a flicker of surprise. She was quickly learning there was some kind of intricate history between the human woman and her parents, but she couldn't help her surprise every time something new came to light.

"I don't need your job anymore, you know. I have one, massive empire, instead."

"That's fortunate. I rather like what I do and would be loath to give it up." Allura's words were polite but carefully masked. Tarla glanced between the two women with the same concern Lotor did.

"Won't you invite me inside?" Merla's tone shifted to sweet and Allura just stared at her with a smile on her face. After an exhale, she replied.

"You'll have to send your warships away, I'm afraid. I don't make a habit of inviting people inside to visit when they come with weapons and siege engines," she said carefully.

Tarla blinked, her eyes snapping to her father as she remembered their choice of vessel for the trip to Arus. He just nodded once down at his daughter knowingly.

"Oh, Allura, it's just a formality. It would be dangerous to travel without them," she explained.

"I suppose it's a good thing you've finished traveling then. As long as those ships are within range of my planet, Merla, I consider you my enemy," she said firmly.

The serpentine queen's eyes narrowed lethally as she was denied her desire.

"Listen, you've-" She paused as she noticed the dark look Lotor cast her way. She straightened and pursed her violet lips together tightly. "Very well. They won't be far out of range-"

"That is acceptable. I understand the need and practice of high-profile rulers traveling with guardsmen. They will be welcome to land when you decide to depart to escort you again," she explained gently. Allura was not unkind, but her spine was firm and her will unwavering. With an irritated look, Merla turned away and marched back to her guards. After a brief discussion, they retreated to their ships.

Allura waited pointedly as the ships lifted off, and only once they had cleared her atmosphere did she turn back to the Drule queen.

"Would you like to come inside?"

Merla hissed out a dangerous assent as Allura turned and led the small entourage back inside her castle. Elia greeted her queen at the door and promptly turned away at the sight of more Drules.

"Why does she keep bringing more…" Elia's hushed murmur was not lost on the king's ears and he bit back his evil chuckle. Allura glided regally at the front of the group and Merla quickly stepped in between Tarla and Lotor to walk beside her husband. Tarla frowned and fell into step behind her mother.

Allura pushed open the doors to the sun room, and invited the entire royal family to join her inside. The once-spacious room between Lotor and Allura suddenly felt far cozier as everyone found a place to settle into. Merla sat down in one of the armchairs with Lotor across from her. Tarla took up residence in a third, but Allura chose to lean against a bookshelf where she could see everyone easily.

"So why the impromptu trip to Arus after all this time, Lotor?" Merla's gaze swiveled from Allura to her king.

"It's because of my-"

"I was asking your father, sweetie," Merla chided the girl. Tarla shut her mouth and stared stoically at her mother.

Lotor exhaled tensely, not at all pleased to be in a position where Allura would witness the frustrating family dynamic. As if she sensed the rising stress, she leaned forward.

"Would you like me to leave and give you some privacy," she offered.

"Oh no, I have questions for you, too, don't worry," Merla promised.

"Very well," the blonde nodded. She kept her eyes glued to the only viable threat she could see in the room, yet was keenly aware of Lotor's eyes on her.

"Tarla has seemingly come into some inherent magical capabilities," he began warily, watching the way Merla and Allura traded wary glances. The Arusian had her right to be concerned; she had only just vented her confusion at a lack of invasions when an army had appeared.

"So you rush off to your pretty princess instead of talking to me about it?" She looked nonplussed and fixed her irritated gaze on Lotor.

"And what would you have done, exactly? It's elemental magic. I don't know of anyone on Planet Doom who has ever used it. Even  _Haggar_  wasn't sure how to help her."

"And you thought  _she_  could help?" Merla gestured to where Allura leaned against the shelving without taking her eyes off her husband. "Perhaps you just wanted any excuse to see-"

"I use it."

Merla's eyes shot across the room to the smaller queen.

"Was I speaking to you?"

"You're in  _my_  castle. You're _always_ speaking to me. And I am  _always_  listening. Anything you say concerns me." Allura's voice was not unkind, but there was a formidable chill behind her words. "And yes. I use it. I practice it, and I can help Tarla do the same," she reiterated.

"You don't have permission to do that."

"Mother!"

"Merla, you don't-" Allura cut Lotor off with a wave of her hand as she stared down the reptilian queen, undaunted.

"Very well. I'll stop."

"Allura!" Lotor shifted his angry gaze from Merla to Allura in alarm. He watched as her lips curled into a ghost of a smile.

"Although, elemental magic _is_ formidable," she dropped her gaze away from the other woman as she chose her words carefully. "It's a very powerful, primal form of magic that can be used anywhere, both defensively and offensively. It's difficult to master, and can be dangerous if not properly understood," she trailed off, pausing for effect.

She felt Merla's eyes on her and fought back a smile. Allura had picked up a skill in handling a Drulish temper; she had Lotor to thank for that. "Afterall... It's the same magic that runs through Voltron. But, I can understand how that might not be something you want to exist in your lineage, given our history-"

"Now wait," Merla said suddenly. Allura fought back the grin just beneath her surface as the other woman rose. The Arusian raised her eyes to meet her demurely.

"Yes?"

"The magic inherent in Voltron itself… my… my daughter could master?" The flash of powerlust behind her eyes was utterly unmistakable.

"Yes, but only with training. It can be very tricky-"

"Then you must train her," Merla commanded. To her credit, Allura kept her face impassive, but she did not miss the surprised look Lotor and Tarla exchanged.

"I wouldn't want to interfere in familial issues and-"

"For Tarla, of course. It's in her best interest, and as her mother, I want her to learn it," she repeated. "Don't you agree?" When Merla looked to Lotor for assent, Allura's eyes winked in Tarla's direction.

"No matter," she said when Lotor struggled to respond. "It's important. Tutor her."

"As you like," Allura said with false indifference.

"Well. I suppose that… answers any questions I have now. …I see no point to linger on this… painfully cheery planet. You'll keep me updated?" Merla rose from her chair and looked toward her distant husband. He, too, rose to meet her and shrugged noncommittally.

"As best I can," he acquiesced. Tarla rose and bowed before her mother primly.

Merla tossed Allura a haughty look.

"My fleet will be landing again to escort me back," she warned. Allura just nodded once.

"Of course, Merla. It was good to see you again. Have a safe trip," she said kindly. "Would you like someone to show you to the gates?"

"No, it's not far," she said before turning to leave. She stopped and patted Tarla on the head.

"Be a good girl now and learn lots of powerful magic," she instructed. Tarla just bowed in response as the queen exited the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, Allura peeled off the bookshelf and was at the window, watching to see if the woman were, in fact, leaving.

As promised, the proud serpent queen strode across the bridge toward her command ship. Within another few minutes, the entire fleet lifted off. Allura stayed quiet for a moment.

"I really dislike her," she muttered after a moment. Lotor's sharp exhale turned into a chuckle and Allura glanced over her shoulder in surprise. Her eyes fell on Tarla and the Arusian grimaced.

"I apologize, I shouldn't speak of your mother that way."

"You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who disagrees with you, Allura," Lotor explained.

"You chose your words to force an agreeable resolution!" Tarla piped up, feeling emboldened to speak freely with her mother gone. "Can you teach me that, as well?"

"Oh, diplomacy? It's about knowing what you want, knowing the person you're talking to, and seeing exactly how to get yourself there. It's not always obvious.”

When Tarla only grinned eagerly, Allura smiled in return.

“For example, Merla is very proud. Had I defied her outright, she would have stopped listening. So, I attempted to give her what she wanted, while hinting that maybe there was more," she explained carefully. "We can work on that, too, if you like!"

"You always just slapped me," Lotor accused tartly, his hands folding across his chest. Allura looked away from his daughter to glare at him.

"What else was I supposed to do? If she cornered me, I probably would have slapped her, too!"

"That would have ended terribly," Lotor groaned; his face in his palm.

"I don't really fancy getting impaled by a blade," she agreed.

"That wouldn't happen," he growled out under his breath, startling Tarla. Allura felt a subtle blush bloom across her cheeks at the distinctly protective tone in his voice. A distant smile flushed her lips discreetly before she suppressed it with a shake of her head.

"At any rate," she clasped her hands in front of her before turning to face Lotor fully. "I want to apologize for not trusting you earlier. I saw the ships, I just assumed…"

"You were afraid," he said gently. Tarla's eyes widened and what would have been an insult to any Drule. Allura only nodded.

"I was. And I jumped to conclusions. I thought that was something I had outgrown, and… I am sorry for that."

"It's understandable. We did show up rather unannounced," he admitted. Allura glanced away from him to the skies outside.

"It's getting late. Shall we go to dinner? I'd imagine it's been prepared by now in the banquet room. I thought," she paused, blushing slightly.  She hesitated – the idea at first had seemed thoughtful and sound, but standing flanked by two Drules, she questioned it.  Allura exhaled.

"Since I had a little more time to plan, I thought I might present you both with a proper Arusian feast. If you want, you'd be welcome to try a little or as much of everything as you desire."

"That would be magnificent," Lotor said earnestly, grasping Allura by the hand. Her eyes widened as she stared up into his, the blush lingering on her cheeks.  Another deep breath blew from her lungs as she forced herself to relax at the touch.

"Well… well we should get moving then," she stammered after a moment. She peeled away from Lotor and made her way to the dining area. The emotional stress from the day was beginning to take its toll on her. A brief dinner and a substantial rest were what she craved more than anything.


	8. Crucible

"Get angry," Allura urged. She stood behind Tarla, her palms on her shoulders as she whispered in her ear. They stood outside in the crisp, Arusian morning for the princess's second lesson. "Show me the fire," she encouraged. "Release it, the same way as before."

The princess looked over her shoulder at the comforting queen behind her. A brief flash of hesitation flickered across her features before Allura gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze and flashed her a smile. Tarla nodded once, her confidence renewed. She tossed her head back and screamed out loud and fire erupted around the two. Like before, a small island in the center of the maelstrom was protected from the heat as the scorching waves cycloned around them safely. Allura was close enough to Tarla to avoid the fearsome blaze. Instead of watching from a distance, the queen had placed herself in the heart of the vortex with its conjurer.

"Good," she praised. "See how the fire whips around you? See how it burns everything near you? It is an explosive reaction. It consumes when you lose control. But if you focus it…" Allura reached forward and touched Tarla's hands, bringing them up in front of her. She guided a motion that brought her palms closer. "Focus it, Tarla. Bend the fire to your will.  _You_  are the master of this situation, not the other way around. Uncontrolled rage is pure destruction and can even consume you. But… if you focus it…" The tornado of flames around them flickered before condensing into domed wall in front of them. No longer did it roar in a sphere with unchecked fury, but instead was directionally focused.

Allura released her hands and stepped back from the flame wall, leaving Tarla to sustain the blazing shield on her own. The Drule glanced over her shoulder as Allura moved to her side, out of range of the inferno. She smiled her encouragement.

The queen continued moving a few paces away from Tarla, staying in her line of sight as she controlled the conflagration. Her palms folded neatly in front of her lap, the train of her pink gown trailing behind her deftly as she took slow, precise steps. She tossed a smile to Lotor as he lounged under the shady tree. Despite encouraging him to wander and assuring him of Tarla's safety, the king was still present. He reclined in the grass, lazily watching the two females from a safe distance as they practiced their craft together.

She stopped her movement several yards from both of her companions and turned to face them.

"With practice and control, you'll be able to turn this," Allura paused in her words. She closed her eyes and exhaled once.

She didn't utter a sound or open her eyes as an explosion of fire erupted around her like a sun. Slowly, Allura opened her eyes to look across the ground to Tarla through the flames of her own sphere. The princess gasped and the fire shield in front of her disappeared as her concentration on it evaporated.

Allura's typhoon was _magnificent_.

It burned, ferocious and wild, scorching the grass and vegetation around her. The fire was white-hot as it tore through the air, consuming the oxygen around her. Her golden hair fluttered around her, nearly weightless with the fabric of her gown as the speed of the conflagration created its own wind at the center of the shell. Most remarkably, Tarla noticed, was that Allura did not raise her hands nor her voice to conjure the fire. Her palms were still clasped in front of her, unfazed and untroubled as the heat of a star swirled around her. Her rage and wrath were so undeniable that she merely needed to _think_ to birth the inferno.

_How can she be so calm… and so angry?_ Tarla stared in awe at the woman's stoic face. Her eyes belied a deep sadness yet her body held the tension of a soldier preparing for war. The flames themselves were a testament to her burning fury.

"Into this," Allura continued, drawing Tarla's thoughts back to the demonstration unfolding in front of her. The queen released her clasped hands. With direct manipulation and a narrowing of both her gaze and focus, the fire funneled itself not into a shield in front of her, but into a single projectile. It resembled an elongated crystal in shape, nearly the size of her forearm. It hovered between Allura's open palms, her fingers flexed as she carefully carved and compressed the element until it was nearly solid. The fire trembled and flickered, but remained bound to her will. She shifted the position of her hands so the terminated end of the charge pointed safely across the moat.

"When you master your anger and your passion, you can direct it as a weapon." Her voice held a tone to it that was new. It trembled subtly as if she were struggling for control. The pitch was a few notes deeper and held the haunt of a soldier home from battle.

She released the shard and it flew like a rocket across the water. Allura dropped to her knees and touched the ground with her palm. In the center of the moat, a wall of ice materialized. The fire shard slammed into it and an explosion resounded, sending mist and steam from the water over the trio and neutralized the fire.

Tarla gaped at the elemental mastery of the human, her hands covering her mouth at the display. Allura looked over her shoulder to her and smiled; all traces of fury gone, her eyes alight with the same vibrant emotions that she was used to. She straightened from the ground and dusted off her dress.

"It takes focus. Fire, at least to me, is the hardest one. Anger is the emotion I feel the least often, and so I struggle to control it when I do. It's wild, intimate and passionate. It's born from harm, pain or fear. To control it, it's important to be able to clear your mind. To be furious, to be vengeful, but to not let that draw and desire consume you – that's your goal for that one, Tarla. It may come more naturally to you as you have an affinity toward fire. Perhaps that will instead make it more difficult, I am not certain. But try again, please." Allura backed away this time to give Tarla the room to conjure safely.

"Start with the sphere. Scream, rage, whatever you need to do to unleash it. Once it appears, just hold onto it. When you're ready."

Tarla nodded. Her body prepped for the magical discharge. Her lips parted to unleash a warcry, but she froze. Curiously, she turned back to her new mentor.

"Do I have to scream? You didn't. But you did yesterday for the water…"

"That's a clever girl! The right questions! No. In fact, eventually, I'd like to get you to a place where you can just look across the water and send a fireball over the surface. If you'd like to try by just focusing the emotion, please go ahead. The cries – the screams, the sobs… they just help magnify it."

"You didn't need to cry out yesterday then either, did you? When you did… with the ice…" Tarla fumbled at the end, unable to come up with a succinct way to describe the most striking and dangerous display she had seen so far. The silent fury was a very close second. Tarla was quickly learning that any display from the queen could be terrifying. 

_The most frightening part is… her kindness._  The princess blinked as the realization struck her. The power was truly fearsome, but she had seen many powerful Drules in battle. None had ever been  _kind_ , however, and never had they smiled.

Allura clapped her hands together, genuinely pleased at how quickly Tarla was piecing the process together.

"You are correct once again," she said. "What we looked at yesterday was the raw power. The very basic part. There's a natural inclination toward one – or in your case, two – elements. It blends itself into us, lends itself based on how we see the world, how we…  _are._ I'm afraid that's a vague description and I apologize, but it's a very personal thing, unique to each user. By unleashing everything that we felt, releasing the focus and control, we demonstrated the most basic of our inclinations," she said. Allura was speaking slowly and pausing between words occasionally as she struggled to be as articulate as possible while describing the very murky subject.

"I can manipulate that element without a word," she explained, a stalagmite of frozen water spiraling up from the moat behind her in demonstration. "I can even do so without using a nearby water source," Allura continued, cupping her hands together as a puddle of water formed. "Having a source nearby does make it easier. But Tarla – there is no fire nearby," she pointed out with a smile. "You pulled fire from inside you. So, the long answer to your question – no, you do not need to cry out."

Lotor had risen to his feet the moment the flames had engulfed Allura, and he had since found himself unable to relax enough to sit back down. He paced around under the tree's shade, watching the two women intently. When Tarla looked over to him, he stilled.

"Silence is better in combat, isn't it?"

Allura glanced over to him as well, following Tarla's gaze. Lotor strode toward his daughter while speaking, joining in the conversation for the first time.

"The less you can telegraph to your opponent, the more likely you will be victorious," he affirmed. "When you hide your intention, it becomes much more difficult to track your movements."

He fixed his gaze over to Allura. She swallowed nervously under the eerie intensity behind his golden eyes. She couldn't place what was staring out at her, but it didn't feel like his usual arrogance. Her hands came up to touch her collarbone, her own eyes unable to move from his.

With a careful, single step, he moved toward her. Allura stayed pinned to the spot, her eyes widening slightly. She felt her body warm slightly and her cheeks flushed. While he only took the single step toward her, Lotor's eyes never left hers. The silence dragged on for what Allura could have sworn was tens of minutes. The heat in her body rose in temperature and shifted into a burning ache in her chest.

"Father?"

Lotor tore his eyes from Allura to look to his daughter. As he did, Allura gasped for air, her trance broken. As oxygen flooded her lungs, she realized the heat in her chest had been her air-starved lungs. How long she had held her breath, she couldn't guess. She turned away from the two Drules as she reclaimed her air, a blush creeping over her cheeks at her surprising reaction. Allura still couldn't place what the look behind his eyes was, but it sent a shiver running down her spine.

After gaining her composure, Allura turned back to Tarla, a pleasant, unruffled smile on her face.

"Would you like to try again?"

Tarla's eyes slid slowly between Allura and her father. The questions on her face were easily readable, but she kept them to herself. Wordlessly, she nodded, stepping carefully back away from the pair and turned her focus across the crystal blue waters of the castle moat.

She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.  _I can do this._  She thought about what made her angry. Nothing floated to the surface initially, so she focused her thoughts on her mother. 

_Be angry._

Tarla remembered the way Merla spoke down to her as if she were a small child, and her irritation rose within her. As she reflected on how different it was that her father treated her like a competent, intelligent young woman, the irritation sparked into anger.

Her hands curled into fists at her side and she felt a low growl rumble from her chest at the anger rose. 

_Allura. This strange, human woman – who has been to battle many times against us and should hate me – treats me with more honor._

Allura took Lotor's wrist and pulled him away from Tarla just as a sphere of brilliant flame erupted around the princess. Even with their retreating steps, both king and queen tossed their hands up to shield their faces from the blast wave of heat that whipped around her. Allura clasped her hands over her mouth to keep herself from cheering in pride – she did not want to distract the princess in her moment of concentration.

"She's remarkable," she explained, glancing up to Lotor. She realized in surprise that in their backpedaling, Allura found herself standing close enough to his body that her hip brushed his thigh.

She took a demure step to the side. "The speed with which she is grasping everything is unheard of." In only two lessons, she had managed to call forth one of her elements without a vocal aid. The progress she was making was phenomenal. She fixed her attention on the girl channeling the fire and tried to ignore her own blush. "Try and form it into something else!"

Tarla only cast her gaze over her shoulder briefly as she listened to the queen. She drew her hands up before her the way Allura had showed her before. She focused her intention on the shell of a shield, rather than sphere.

Resistance pressed back on her. As her palms came together, she felt a push from between them trying to drive them back apart.  _The fire wants to race free. It desires to consume. It takes strength to control it,_  she realized. Tensing her muscles and steeling her will, she forced the fire into submission and bent its shape into a domed shield before her. Tarla grinned triumphantly, her young fangs peeking out over the edge of her lip.

She looked over her shoulder and her heart stilled at the sight behind her. Allura stood right beside her father, her hands clasped before her lips. Excitement shimmered in her eyes as the woman watched the princess. Her father stood closer than an old friend would, his arms crossed over his chest and he stared triumphantly back at her. In the next second, his eyes slid away from the princess to look down to the woman nearly glowing with pride beside him. The soft expression that washed over his face stunned the young girl.

A thunderous crack sounded from behind her. Tarla's head whipped around to the fire she was controlling just as it flashed green before disappearing completely. She stared at the empty air in front of her, holding her breath. She looked around and up to the sky. Confused at the sudden absence of the fire barrier, she turned to find a wide-eyed Allura.

"What just happened?"

The queen dropped her hand from her lips and exhaled once, the stunned look melting into pride once more.

"Something very interesting," she said after a second. Lotor's eyes darted between them.

"Was that green fire?" He looked worried and approached Tarla at a jog, pausing to look down at her and make sure she was unharmed.

"Not exactly," Allura said smoothly, sidling up next to him. "You, Tarla, switched elements mid-focus," she explained, unable to hide the grin on her lips. "You consistently surprise me with your capabilities and natural talent."

"I switched… elements? How did I do that? Where did the fire go?"

"It turned into the element of nature. That element, that form of the magic comes from a place where we experience connections to the universe. We see creation, we find beauty in other things, people, places… we even _love_. The other end of that spectrum is possession, control and jealousy. What were you thinking about, exactly, when that happened?" The curiosity dancing in Allura's eyes was impossible to miss. Tarla shifted uncomfortably.

"I… I don't remember," she said after a moment. She glanced up at her father who was watching her with a guarded, worried look. She looked back to Allura, quickly changing the subject. Tarla wasn't entirely sure what she had been thinking herself; she had only been feeling, and the emotion confused her. "What was the loud noise?"

"Yes! Another good question," Allura said cheerfully, letting the old subject drop, much to Tarla's relief. "Not only did you switch your element, but you switched to an element that was counter. Remember how we talked about how each element is weak to one and strong to another?"

"Fire consumes nature!"

The blond woman bobbed her head up and down enthusiastically.

"There was a single instant as your element shifted that both were conjured at the same time. When two elements that are side-by-side in the power wheel – if you'd like to think of it that way – touch, they react to each other. Most of the time, the stronger of the two devours the weaker. Depending on the surge of emotion behind either one, it is possible for the weaker to win. On a rare occasion, when fueled by the perfect balance, they can both continue to exist together. I would guess that the noise from the initial reaction broke your concentration and both vanished," she said. "This is brilliant! You're brilliant, Tarla! That's an extraordinarily advanced thing to do!"

"Well done," Lotor commended the young Drule. He gave her shoulder a squeeze and Allura turned away to glance back to the castle.

"I am calling the lesson for today though, after both that display and your quick grasp of nonverbal control, you must be completely exhausted," she said.

Tarla blinked in surprise. Allura was completely right, but she hadn't realized how tired she was.

"Besides," the queen continued, shading her eyes from the sun as she looked to the sky overhead that matched her eyes. "That took up a good part of the day." She lowered her eyes and began to lead the way back across the bridge. Lotor appeared at her side and Tarla trailed behind the two, watching as they spoke in quiet murmurs. Her father leaned over the shorter woman to speak and listen. Their arms nearly brushed against each other while they walked.

Her body felt a little uneasy and noticeably weakened. A strange warmth permeated from her palm, and the princess looked down curiously to her right hand. A faint, eerie green light glowed in the center of her palm before dissipating. Tarla stared at it in open surprise.

She looked up suddenly as she realized the two people in front of her had stopped moving. Both Lotor and Allura had turned and were watching her.

"Why are you walking behind us?" Allura stepped away from Lotor to make room for the princess to join them. Tarla walked forward and the other two resumed their gait with the younger woman between them. She studied the queen's profile before Allura turned her eyes in her direction. A curious smile danced across her lips but she said nothing.

"You know that you did fantastic today, right?"

"I… I really don't know," Tarla admitted. "There's so much to learn, and so much of it is a feeling, not a… a thing to do."

"It will come with time. It's a very intuitive form of magic. I can't speak for Merla's or Haggar's, but I know with this, it comes by trusting your instincts and doing what feels right," Allura explained. She glanced over Tarla's head and caught the same, strange expression on Lotor's face as he watched her. She frowned at him.

"What," she said after a moment. Tarla looked to Allura before looking to her father.

"Nothing," he answered, turning his gaze forward. "Allura's right, Tarla. You've done splendidly. Commendable."

"When can I practice again," she asked, turning to look back to Allura. The queen smiled in return but shook her head.

"You're already nearly unconscious on your feet. No more today, and we may take a day of rest tomorrow, as well. At least from practicing."

Tarla stayed thoughtfully quiet for a moment, undeterred by the fatigue. Allura opened the doors to the castle and gestured the Drules inside.

"Well, if resting tomorrow is… … _ideal_ ," she struggled with the concept that rest was not just for the weak. "…may I watch you work with it? I'd like to see how a master controls it. Perhaps I can learn to emulate it better."

Allura looked genuinely startled.

"You flatter me, Tarla. I'm hardly a master, but I would be happy to do demonstrations for you just the same," she answered, letting the doors swing shut behind them.


	9. Fragment

It was well past the witching hour as Allura stirred in her bed. Her eyelids fluttered open and met the familiar, dark ceiling of her chambers. Sleep had not come easily for the queen since Lotor had landed on her planet. When her mind wasn't racing with contingency plans should he turn hostile, old emotions bubbled up that she had long suppressed.

In her youth, the king had been a frightening crown prince. As much as Zarkon had sparked fear in her heart, Lotor had been worse. Zarkon merely wanted her dead. Lotor had aspired to much more. Allura had never feared death. She did fear the fate that would come to her people should she ever fall in battle, but death itself had never been a frightening concept. If nothing more, it was a chance to see her father again.

The thought of becoming an enslaved Bride-Queen to the Drule Empire was catastrophically terrifying by contrast. Death would have been a kinder fate.

_Relentless._

Few other words embodied the man completely. She massaged her temples.

_I'm no longer afraid of him. I can't be. …I_ shouldn't  _be._

Allura felt confident that should he - once again - attempt to take by force the things he desired, she would be a competent opponent at long last. What she lacked in her skills as a swordswoman, she made up for with her magic predispositions. What Tarla could accomplish with the combination of both would vastly outshine what either she or Lotor were capable of.

_Am I training my own assassin?_

The chilling thought struck a chord in Allura's chest. The very knowledge she was giving to Tarla – heiress of the entire Drule Empire itself – coupled with the princess's skill as a warrior would easily bring Arus to its knees and end her proud legacy.

She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. After everything she had worked for and all she had sacrificed, Allura realized she was hand-delivering the blueprints of destruction to someone who was easily her most lethal adversary yet.

"Maybe we don't have to fight," she murmured. She looked to her nightstand. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes before she could catch them. A single glass of water rested on the surface. The tabletop was empty where her space mice would have stood.

"Chitter would have cheered me up," she muttered, looking back to the ceiling as a single tear rolled down her cheek. The hollow ache in her chest threatened to burst forth as she allowed her control on her emotions to wane.  _It's healthy to feel,_  she reminded herself.

_I feel lost._

The glanced back to the glass out of the corner of her eye at the sound of a crackle.

Frost had formed across the surface. Allura exhaled, tamping down on the sorrow that laced her veins.

The first ten years since the cease of invasions had been the Golden Age of Arus. She, and her people, had never been happier. She would argue she still lived in it as her people thrived, but the monumental joy she felt then had long dissipated. With no war and no destruction, those close to her had scattered. Keith had moved up further in the military ranks and lived on Earth. Hunk and Pidge both found their dream careers doing what they loved. She still saw them from time to time, but with Coran and Nanny's passing, the palace had become both emptier and colder.

Every few years, more of the bright souls that had kept her company disappeared. They either left their current life or physically moved to another location better suited to their interests and advancements. The void left behind grew wider, deeper and darker as the clock ticked forward.

_I feel alone._

Even her space mice friends were gone. A few of their descendants still roamed the castle walls, but they did not possess the connection to the then-princess as their elders had.

"I will stand," she murmured, closing her eyes as she pushed down the ache in her heart. "I am alone, but I will always stand. For my people and my planet. I can do no less. As I always have."

_Indomitable._

Allura had felt the same emptiness in her home once before when nearly her entire planet had fallen to Zarkon. Before the Voltron Force arrived, only a handful of people remained in the caves in the hills. Her castle had been in crumbles with only Coran left to keep her company.

Despite the painful desperation of the uncertain time, she had not felt loneliness then the way she did now – fear had been a much stronger emotion. The necessity to survive had scattered all other sentiments and desires. In the height of peace and in the wake of a full and bustling castle, the vacuum had become nearly incapacitating.

The painful sensation was new to her. The emotions had long been repressed, but the familiar face of Prince – _King_ – Lotor had brought up far more of her past than she would have liked to remember.

It was easy to forget in the daylight while she worked. She could throw herself into her studies, into networking with other civilizations and leave no time for the memories. In the heart of the night, the emptiness was strikingly obvious, especially when sleep forsook her.

A very quiet knock sounded on her door, startling her from her melancholy. Allura sat up in her bed and quickly wiped her eyes. She waved her hand over the glass on her nightstand and the ice layer thawed immediately.

After drawing a floor-length, satin white robe over her pink nightgown, she pressed the button and the double doors swished open. Tarla stood on the other side in plain blue cotton pajamas and tussled hair. Allura looked at the princess as she struggled to process what she was seeing.

"What's wrong, Tarla?" Concern etched deep into her voice. Her impending executioner or not, Allura couldn't help the maternal affection she felt.  _Perhaps that is my curse. To cultivate my own death._

"I…" she trailed off, wringing her hands together in front of her.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Tarla shot a glare at Allura in response.

"I did not! We do not have bad dreams… we do not fear… I…" she fumbled at the end, flustered by pride. Allura only smiled gently.

"It's alright, Tarla. I won't tell anyone. Would you like to come inside and talk about it?"

The Drule princess's expression softened and she nodded before accepting the invitation and stepped into the room. The doors swished closed behind her.

"I'll put some tea on. Make yourself comfortable wherever you like," the queen encouraged. Allura moved to a table against a wall and touched a button on an electric kettle and waited for the water to heat. "Do you like chamomile?" She glanced to the princess.

"I've… never had it." Tarla took purchase on the edge of Allura's bed and glanced around the spacious chamber. Glass comprised an entire wall, revealing the night sky overhead and the plains stretching from the castle. The Arusian landscape in the darkness was stunning. Small towns and larger buildings dotted the horizon with their lights, and the starlight illuminated all the natural features of the land. She glanced over as Allura came to sit on the edge of the bed near her, leaving a comfortable space between them. She passed a mug to Tarla.

"If you don't like it, it's alright. It's supposed to be relaxing," she said as she sipped her own drink. "It's hot, be careful."

"Thank you," she answered, accepting the offered mug. She blew across the top of it. "I'm not even sure why I'm here," she murmured suddenly. "I apologize for waking you."

"You didn't," Allura said, sliding backward to settle cross-legged on her mattress, her mug in her lap. She left the lights off in her room; the brilliant moonlight lit the chamber enough without artificial aid.

"It's so late. Why were you awake?"

"I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes," she offered. She didn't feel the need to elaborate that the girl's father plagued her thoughts. Tarla only nodded, turning to face the golden-haired woman. She mirrored her and settled into the center of the bed as well.

"I… " Tarla paused, looking to the window once more as she gathered her thoughts. She was pleasantly surprised when Allura only waited patiently for her to continue. "I'm afraid," she finally admitted. Her eyes slid to the queen to check her reaction.

Allura's face remained impassive and she said nothing of the humiliating confession. She nodded once and treated it as though Tarla had commented on the weather.

"What of?"

"You… didn't insult me, or… tell me to just not be afraid," the princess said, genuinely stunned.

"Why would I insult you? Everyone's afraid of at least one thing," she said. "I realize it's not… culturally appropriate… necessarily for you to acknowledge it, but it really is a very natural thing. For humans  _and_ Drules."

"What are you afraid of?" Tarla asked the queen a very personal question and prepared for retaliation in response. To ask one of her own the same question could start a battle. Instead, shrouded in the starlight coming through the window, the gentle queen only looked thoughtful.

"Many things," she said after a moment. Her fingers traced the rim of her tea mug as she reflected internally. "I fear the destruction of my planet, my people and their way of life. I fear the collapse of the future. I fear losing the people I care about," she paused, a smile quirking at her lips. "I'm also afraid of snakes."

"What about Father?" Allura tensed as Tarla's perception honed in on something she had left out.

"I do not believe that he is afraid of snakes, no," Allura replied playfully, easing the heavy atmosphere in the dark room. To her delight, Tarla burst into giggles. It was a sound she hadn't heard from the fierce princess before. A smile crept across the queen's face in response. As she calmed down, she inhaled deeply to catch her breath.

"No, I mean. Are you afraid of him?" Tarla was relaxed by the comment, but she was undeterred in her search for answers. Allura's smile slipped of her face.

"Why do you ask that," she deflected the question as best she could.

"I see it in the way you stand," Tarla explained. "When he looks at you. When he moves to you. You look like you're preparing to fight or run and aren't sure which to do. I noticed it when you saw him for the very first time. I know it isn't just because of our race – you don’t look at me with the same apprehension."

"You're extraordinarily observant," she complimented the princess and paused to sip her tea. Tarla did the same. "He and I have… a long history. …I'm still sorting that detail out, I'm afraid. Most of the time I'm  _not_  entirely sure what to do."

"Were you friends before?" Tarla looked surprised by the strange look Allura fixed her with.

"…no, I don't think we were," she said after a moment. The princess's eyes widened slightly. "Not in the usual sense, at least. Sometimes we were allies. …Rarely, though. It was… complicated," Allura added.

"You were at war. He and Grandfather both… right?"

Allura remained quiet for several minutes.

"Zarkon more than Lotor. In some ways. They both sought different things from me," she hedged with a sigh. "But, things have changed dramatically since then."

"Are you now?"

"Are we what now?" Allura glanced to the princess, startled.

"Friends."

"…I'm not certain," she hedged carefully. The queen was reticent to reveal much about her past with Lotor until she had at the very least, sorted out her present with him. As far as Allura could tell, Tarla had limited knowledge of the true aggression between Arus and Doom, constrained to only the details in the discussion on the first day, and even less understanding of Lotor's obsession with her.

"I… I did have a bad dream – a nightmare, really," Tarla admitted, emboldened by the queen's own honesty.

"Did you want to talk about it?"

"Father and Mother were in it. Mother was… screaming at me," she said, staring down at her cooling tea.

Allura waited patiently for her to continue.

"Mother was yelling that I was worthless. She was saying I was a failure. I'd never live up to my role as a queen. She said I was weak and inferior and could never follow in their footsteps. On Father's path. And Father – he just… stood in the background. He just watched and he looked… disappointed. He didn't say anything. …He didn't have to."

Allura reached out and put a comforting hand on Tarla's shoulder as she trembled at the memory.

"Oh, Tarla. I know that feeling well, I've had my own version of that nightmare. An heiress's torment," she said, scooting closer to the girl.

"How did you know? When you were ready to be a queen, I mean?"

Allura smiled sadly at the girl in response.

"I didn't really have the choice. When my father died, I assumed the responsibilities of the planet. There simply wasn't anyone else to do it. I had to learn everything myself. I failed at a lot of it, but that's the thing. There's always room to grow in that position. There's never 'perfection'. I stayed a princess, however, for many years after he was gone."

"Why? You could have assumed the title of queen immediately, right?" Tarla stared at the woman in open fascination.

"I could have. But I didn't want to. I… my father was killed in battle, Tarla, and it was very sudden. He was young for a king. Part of me resisted the throne because I thought maybe… …maybe someday he would walk through those doors and pick up where he left off. I wouldn't be left with the burden and stress of caring for the planet. Logically I understood it was permanent but, actually taking the crown just felt too… final. Like giving up hope."

"In battle! So he didn't pass on with old age like Grandfather did?" Tarla blinked at the strange look Allura gave her at the mention of her grandfather. Something flickered behind those brilliant blue eyes at the mention of Zarkon that Tarla couldn't place, despite feeling like she already knew the answer.

"No, he was younger. He should have been king for at least a few more decades. He was brave, fought honorably, but lost, as someone is always bound to do," she said carefully. "At a young age, I found myself governing a planet in the middle of a war zone. I was incredibly unprepared," she laughed quietly and looked to Tarla. "But that was okay. I learned."

She shifted on the bed, watching the princess carefully with starlight as their only company.

"What if I don't live up to my father's legacy? What if I can't be like King Lotor?" Tarla tossed a distressed look Allura's way. She only smiled.

"You won't. You will never be like him," she said quietly. The statement shocked the Drule to the core, freezing any sense of authenticity she felt toward the woman instantly, yet Allura continued, undeterred. "You aren't him. You're Tarla. You are your own person, your own princess. Your own _queen_. You will be glorious and you will be magnificent, but you will never be him because you are  _not_ him. That's not a bad thing, Tarla. It's wonderful. Besides, one Lotor is more than enough for this universe," she added dryly. A smile touched at the younger girl's lips and Allura continued, growing more serious again.

"I feel that there is this burden placed on princesses," she explained, reclining onto her elbows as she leaned back. "At least for humans and perhaps for Drules, too, where we are expected to become that which our male predecessors are. We aren't." She flashed a grin to Tarla.

"I do not understand."

"I took the Arus throne about fifteen years ago when I realized that my desperation and drive to become my father was folly. I wouldn't ever be him. He was a warrior. Fearless. Tarla, I can only barely lift his sword with both my hands, much less wield it in combat alongside a shield. I am not him, as much as my soul cried at the realization. I idolized him and wanted nothing more than to be just like him – but I can't. And you know what?" She leaned closer to the princess, reaching up to touch her cheek sincerely. "That's okay. It's phenomenal, actually. Part of what makes a monarchy work is that every generation, someone new comes along. New ideas, new ways of looking at things, fresh ways to communicate. If everyone were to be like the person who came before them, we would never grow or expand. That moment that I realized that I would never be my father, no matter how hard I tried was the moment I realized I was ready to lead. That was the moment Queen Allura was born.  _That's_  how you know."

"But what if I fail?"

"Will you, though?" Allura set her empty mug aside and laid all the way back, her arms folded behind her head casually. "I don't believe that someone with the strength that you have is capable of failure."

"But I could! I could disappoint them," she said, concerned still drenching her voice. Allura looked over to the princess as Tarla studied the mug in her lap.

"Disappoint who? You're the queen at that point. Your word is law. Your agenda is theirs. You answer to no one, Tarla," she said gently. "You are exactly who you want to be and no one may tell you any different. There is no success or failure at that point. You are… you."

Tarla just stared at the woman reclined on the plush comforter.

"Are you not afraid?"

"Oh, every day I am. But there is no running from this. There is no escape. This.  _This_ , right here, right now, with you, is who I am. I am a queen, a governess, a tutor, a researcher, a diplomat, a liaison, even a warrior. I am whatever needs to be carved of me to keep my people whole and my planet alive. And for this moment, that means I happen to somehow be important enough in all the galaxy to be talking with Princess Tarla, the Drule Empire Heiress herself," she said profoundly, a smile laced across her lips.

Tarla felt herself slammed with emotion at the queen's important words. She sat, stunned, as Allura, the Golden Queen of Arus, humbled her with praise and dignity.

"How did your father fall in battle?" She asked, genuinely curious; the Arusian line seemed exceptionally strong from what she could tell.

"He lost to a very powerful and skilled warrior," she explained carefully. She smiled to the princess, pushing down the pain that surfaced with the memory of Alfor.

"It must have been a magnificent battle," Tarla commented. Allura found herself blushing.

"Why do you say that?"

"For someone with the knowledge of battle, of this Voltron machine... I'm sure he was amazing in combat."

She nodded, turning her gaze up to the ceiling. Allura hesitated in mentioning that Zarkon had been her father's opponent, unsure how the young Drule would take such information. She had the pieces already to figure it out; neither she nor Lotor had made secret of the past struggles their planets had had, yet she wasn't too keen on brandishing the fact blatantly.

"He was… what I would consider at least, a great man. He cared very much for his family and his people. He did his very best to protect them – us – all and give us everything we needed to be happy. He died defending us. His spirit lingers, though. I've often spoken with him and sought his advice when diplomatic or battlefield matters extended beyond my understanding."

"You've spoken with him… after his death?" Tarla's eyes widened and Allura stilled. The connective link between Arus and the spirit realm was a relatively well-kept secret. Despite exploiting the fact she communed with her father in an effort to lure her from the castle once, Haggar and Lotor seemed to have kept the knowledge to themselves.

"Yes," she said carefully.  _I'm already teaching her how to manipulate the elements. Why falter with this?_ "My father's tomb is in the catacombs beneath the castle. His spirit lingers and on occasion I am able to divine information from him. I did it much more in my younger years when I felt lost and hopeless."  _Like I do again, now._

"That's incredible! We don't have anything like that, just… Haggar's creepy evil spirits," she added. "I wonder what Grandfather would say if I could speak to him," she trailed off, speaking more to herself. Allura felt stomach clench at the thought.

"Yes, I'm sure that would be… …interesting," she supplied weakly.

Several minutes of thoughtful silence rolled by as Tarla contemplated a communion with Zarkon and Allura wondered if another trip to her father's crypt were in order. It had been several years since she had last sought his wisdom, but she felt once again presented with a situation that tore at her heart.

"I suppose I should return to my room," Tarla said after a moment, startling Allura from her trance.

"I hope I was able to help, Tarla. Just remember, you won't fail because you set your own standards. Never forget that whomever Queen Tarla becomes will be magnificent, and you have nothing to worry about or fear," she concluded with a smile, sitting back up before rising to her feet. Tarla nodded her thanks and handed her empty mug to the queen.

"The tea was lovely. I think I would like to have it again sometime," she said. With a farewell, the princess left the queen's private chambers feeling more amicable toward her than ever before. Allura sighed and sat back down on the edge of the bed, pressing her fingertips to her forehead.

"I  _do_  need help," she murmured before rising from her bed and exiting her chamber quickly.

* * *

"My daughter," a ghostly echo bounced off the walls before the projection of a human male appeared over the casket. Allura smiled weakly, finding herself back in the catacombs beneath the castle. The stone beneath her feet was worn with time. It was a striking contrast to the rest of her modern, metallic beacon of hope.

"Hello, Father."

"What brings you to me tonight?" His voice was raspy and low. "You haven't come in years, and you're here now," he said slowly. Malice was never present, but both concern and confusion echoed in his ghostly words.

"We've been at peace for years. Arus is prospering, just like you always hoped for."

"You have done well," he commended.

Allura nodded. The last she had seen of her father was when she descended to tell him of her claim to the throne. He had been proud of her, as he had always been. Her hands folded in front of her carefully.

"I… I find myself in need of advice once more," she explained.

"Tell me, my child, what troubles you?"

With little dignity, Allura gathered her gown in her hands and settled into a seated position before her father's casket on the floor.

"I have been presented with a complicated situation," she began.

"You seem to draw those to you at regular intervals," he said with a gentle tone.

"This one could… I…" She struggled to find her words and the projection waited patiently as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. The irony that Tarla had been in her room in a similar state of confusion earlier in the evening was not lost on Allura.

"I fear that the right thing to do is the wrong thing, and that the wrong thing to do is the right thing. And I fear that I may be throwing Arus away," she said. "What would you do if Death knocked on your door and asked for aid? Would you help it or turn it away?"

Alfor's image flickered as if confused.

"Elaborate, my dear."

"King Zarkon's granddaughter has seemingly become a vessel for elemental magic. Her father – after years of struggle and conflict followed by decades of peace, has come to ask me to train her. I… I am lost. If this really is a means to end the wars between our people, then that would be amazing and I have nothing to fear. But should she ever decide to use what I can teach her against me, it will end us all. I don't know what to do."

"How fascinating," he murmured. "And they are both here in the castle now?"

"Yes. Lotor showed up a few days ago with his daughter – Tarla – and… and knocked on the front door! He waited in the parlor… He came alone, no warships, no weapons. It's like he's completely different than the man I fought so hard against for so long. He's so different, in fact, that I can't help but wonder if it's just yet another plot. If it is, it's his best one yet. I am knowingly giving essentially my future assassin the power to end Arus. Willingly  _and_  knowingly. Have I gone mad?"

"You have been alone for a very long time, I fear," he said after a moment of thought. "You should never be alone."

"I have you," she insisted. "I've always had you."

"Would you turn the child away?" Alfor switched back to the topic of Tarla's presence.

"I… I feel like the right thing for my people would be to do so – it would protect them. …but no. I couldn't do that."

"Then that is your answer, is it not?"

Allura glanced up to the ghostly image of her father in open confusion.

"What of Lotor?"

"What of him? What has he always wanted from you? Before he returned recently, what would you have expected from him?"

"To… he's always had this warped obsession with me. I would have expected some kind of plot to kidnap me or enslave me, guns and warships, forced entry…" She trailed off, realizing how ludicrous her fear sounded in light of his actions and marital status.

"And yet he came to your castle doors, knocked and waited for permission to enter, with his daughter," the fallen king finished the sentence for her gently.

"I…" Allura sat back, stunned. "Is it really, truly possible he is genuine in all this? What if he knows of Tarla's capabilities? I am… barely competent at this craft. I can defend – I could even attack if needed. But her predisposition, Father, it's incredible. What she could do with what I could teach her… She would easily win in battle. In days she has grasped what I learned in months and years."

"She also has an excellent tutor. One of my only regrets is that I was unable to work with you the way you can work with her now," he said. "But the magic never manifested in you. I feared perhaps it would become a lost art to our people. I am so pleased that it did eventually come to you in the end, even if you were left to your own devices to understand it."

"If I teach her what I know, I will not be able to defend Arus should she ever decide to pick up where Zarkon left off. I'm not even entirely sure-" She stopped mid-sentence with a gasp. "Perhaps that's it! Lotor has brought her now because he could never fell Arus with robeasts. Perhaps he knows I'll train her, and he'll be able to siege the planet in the end, after all!" Her hand covered her mouth and she felt the blood chill.

"Do you think him that cruel to wield his own daughter as a weapon?"

"Ye-" She froze as she remembered the clear terror echoed in Lotor's voice the moment Tarla dove into the water. She had never seen the arrogant man show anything resembling fear before. "…no," she amended.

"So what will you do?"

"What would you do with this situation?"

"Ah, my dear. It is unfortunately not a reality I ever faced during my reign," he said gently. "It does not matter what I would have done. What does matter, however, is what _will you do_?"

Allura sat on the floor before her father, completely stunned that after everything she had voiced of her fears, the most realistic scenario was that Lotor was being sincere.

"How absolutely strange," she murmured. "If… if that is the case, the only thing I have to worry about is what Tarla will do once she becomes queen. She herself, could turn on Arus."

"Daughter, in my day, I was gifted with a sense of justice and retribution. It was a noble calling, but it was also bloody. Righteousness comes with a price – and a false sense of pride. You… wherever you roam, whomever you speak to, whatever you do… you build bridges. You have repaired damage on your planet, made liaisons with the Galaxy Alliance and even returned our beloved sister planet Pollux back to us. Perhaps this will be no exception, albeit your greatest link yet. My energy wanes in the world, however. Farewell, my daughter," he said mysteriously before vanishing and plunging the room into darkness.

Allura sat alone with her thoughts for several minutes longer before rising and fumbling her way to the stairwell up to the castle floor.

* * *

"Allura! There you are," Lotor came around the corner as the locked door to stairway swished closed. A worried Tarla was at his side. "What are you doing awake at this time?" He was out of breath and dressed in black silk pants and a white cotton shirt. Allura wondered briefly where he had acquired them from.

"What are you doing here?" She turned the question back on him.

"I caught Tarla going back to her room. She said she had been with you, but when we went to your room, you were gone. What's happening?"

Tarla paled, glancing to Allura worriedly. The princess wasn't keen on having her father learn of her nightmares.

"We were chatting. Girltalk," Allura supplied helpfully. A playful smile danced across her lips at the frustrated expression on his face. "I could ask you the same question, Lotor. What are  _you_  doing awake?"

"I went to check on Tarla," he said, scowling at the expression on the woman. "Then we found your room empty."

"Where did you go?" The princess asked.

"I went to see my father. I had my own questions to sort out," she offered. Tarla grinned, finding immense comfort that even in her veteran years as a queen, Allura still felt the need to reach out for guidance from time to time.

Allura smiled back in response, recognizing the relief on her face and what it was for. She felt slightly guilty that her concern and fears had been over helping the very woman who took ease from them.

"Back to bed now, everyone," she nodded. The heiress nodded and started down the hallway toward her bedchambers as she paused. She glanced to Allura and gave her a single nod of gratitude. The queen nodded back and gave a light wave of her hand.

She turned to find the king standing very close to her.

"Why were you speaking with your father, Allura?"

"Why were you looking for me in the middle of the night, Lotor?" She asked him another question instead of answering his. The flash of dissatisfaction in his eyes emboldened her. The thrill of having the power of their dynamic in her hands for once sparked a playful courage in her. "Someone might get the wrong idea, you know."

"I don't believe there is a wrong idea, Allura. I've never hidden my intentions toward you from anyone," he said darkly. As she glanced up to him, the impishness she had felt vanished. His golden eyes nearly glowed in the darkness, the pupils honed on her with intensity. She swallowed nervously, a blush creeping under her skin.

The confidence she had accrued from speaking with her father and talking herself into believing Lotor had really come back to Arus to help his daughter began to dissipate with the familiar, heated look in his gaze. 

_But he's married…_  

No matter how much her mind tried to argue logic, she couldn't deny the way his eyes devoured her.

"Except Tarla," Allura whispered, unable to conjure any more force behind her words.

"Not on purpose," he murmured, stepping closer. Allura matched his pace until her back came to rest against the wall. He closed the remaining distance between them with a casual laziness. "It just hasn't been relevant."

She glanced away from him as he leaned over her slender frame. In the darkness of her empty castle, Allura found herself once more pinned by the searing heat of Lotor.

"Allura," he said quietly. When she didn't look up at him, he delicately curled his finger under her chin. In a surprisingly soft gesture, he tilted her gaze up to him. "We should talk."

"We already did," she whispered.

"We didn't finish."

"No, I don't think we ever do, do we?" Her eyes widened as his thumb traced over her trembling bottom lip deftly.

"No, I suppose not."


	10. Sunder

Allura walked into her room swiftly, _painfully_ aware of the indomitable presence directly behind her. She glided straight across her floor to a recessed fireplace. She touched a switch near the glassed-in hearth and it crackled to life. She turned around slowly.

Lotor stood in the center of her bedchamber, his eyes fixated on her. His arms were crossed across his chest as he studied her closely. The moonlight coming through the glass wall caught his hair and the golden firelight reflected off his eyes. She swallowed nervously as her heart skipped a beat and an old, familiar feeling stirred.

"I do not know what is left to be said," she said after a moment. Her words were breathless and carried little weight behind them. She folded her arms over herself self-consciously, drawing her silk robe in tighter around her body.

Despite being in next-to-nothing in her bathing suit the day before, Allura felt far more naked standing before him under his intimate gaze. In the middle of the night, cloaked in starlight and warmed by the fire, even her floor-length gown and robe couldn't protect her from his hungry look.

"Much," he replied. "I'm certain you still have questions, if nothing else."

"Of course I have questions, especially when it comes to you. When have I ever not," she muttered. It was a rhetorical question, and as he kept his silence, she fidgeted slightly. She took a deep breath to steel her resolve before diving straight into the dragon's maw.

"Everything suddenly changed, and I don't know why. What happened?" Her fierce eyes met his with the same, undiluted ferocity he was used to. The firelight courted her hair from behind, illuminating her in a golden halo.

"What do you mean," he questioned. He took a step toward her as his hands itched to touch her. He couldn't help himself. She was the flame and he was the moth.

"The war. It just… you just…  _stopped._  I spent years laying in bed, wide awake, listening for the alarms – waiting for the sirens. Waiting for you to bring down upon my planet something horrifyingly beyond my imagination. The thought that you would leave me alone… …it was unfathomable, unbelievable. How could you? You were far too arrogant. Too confident. It wasn't a plausible fate. With all that talk of 'love' and conquering, of siege and slavery, of… of burning… and binding ... and you... just...  _stopped_. Did you eventually conquer enough? Were you sated? Did you finally learn what love was? ...did you realize it was Merla the whole time?"

"What are you talking about, Allura? Of course I still love you. Merla was… _convenient_."

"No, no you can't possibly mean that. You use that word incorrectly," she said dismissively. "You always have… You mistake want for need, love for lust… "

"But I do," he insisted, his temper flaring at she denied him his passion. She tossed him a cool look in response and paced away from the fireplace. She paused to look out the glass pane.

"Maybe, maybe once in our long-buried past, Lotor, you might have  _thought_  you loved me. Maybe," she conceded. "But not now, not today."

"Allura, I have  _always_ loved you. I never stopped! You haunt my dreams to this very day!" His exasperated tone rose louder as he took another step toward her. She shook her head once.

"I don't believe that's possible. It can't be. I am no one."

"Why is that so difficult to understand? From the moment I met you, _I loved you_!"

"Stop saying that!" Allura cried out, pressing her hands over her ears. Her cheeks flushed red as his words crashed into her. "You don't know what that word means! You have never loved anyone other than yourself," she hissed out. She opened her eyes and stared out into the darkness as her shoulders relaxed. "And Tarla. That, I can see, clear as dawn," she added gently. "But not me. Not ever. Not then; and certainly not now." She let her hands fall back to her sides as her passion calmed.

Lotor stopped in his tracks, a few paces from her, as both caught their breath.

"Why do you brand me a liar?" His voice was still tense, but he controlled the volume carefully. His keen eyes caught the way her hands trembled in front of her as they clutched at her robe. She kept her back to him to hide her expression, but the firelight cast her reflection on the glass and surrendered her secrets to him. Allura's cheeks were red, but the rest of her skin was ashen. Her fingers laced together tightly as she held back her tremor.

"Because you and I think of love differently. Love is… …the person that you love is the center of your universe. They are the most important thing to you. They-"

"And you still don't believe I see you that way? How can, after everything, you stand there and deny the truth in that statement?" His voice held a quiver to the tone. He swallowed, reigning in both his temper and an unusual sensation to him – fear. She was slipping from him, backing away as she had always done.

Allura stayed quiet. Lotor couldn't be certain if she were studying something on her darkened horizon or if she simply hid from his gaze.

"No," she said simply after a tense moment passed between them. Her voice was lower in tone than he had ever heard before and a chill resonated behind her words. His fury ignited and without a word he stormed across the room toward her, closing the distance.

Allura heard his footfalls and turned instinctively, her eyes widening with alarm.

"Stay away!" Her voice was a high-pitched cry as she spun to face him, her hands clutching to her garments tightly. Lotor became subliminally aware that the room felt humid. His focus was so intent on the woman cowering against the glass before him that he paid little attention to the perspiration.

As he took one more step toward the emotional queen, his own anger evaporated when the fireplace suddenly extinguished. A fraction of a second later, a brilliant flash of light cracked between them, followed swiftly by a loud bang resembling lightning and thunder.

Lotor quickly shut his eyes against the sudden light as he fell backward, coming to rest on the cool floor, his back slamming into the side of her bed. When he opened his eyes again, Allura was backed into the window, her palms outstretched defensively in his direction. Super-heated steam formed a shieldwall before her as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Fury and fear," he murmured to himself, awed. Panic ticked over in the next second as he recalled her earlier lesson with Tarla; that displaying both in perfect balance would be destructive to her.

"I'm not defenseless anymore, Lotor! You cannot just take whatever you want from me! You  _will not_! Not ever! I won't let my planet burn!" Allura gasped for air in her anger-fueled terror. Her head remained bowed as her hair fell around her, but her will was undeniable as she held the energy shield up.

"I don't want those things," he said. He began to push up from the floor, but he quickly changed his mind after reading the unchecked alarm and escalating fervor on her face. "I don't want any of them," he emphasized. His objective quickly shifted to calming the blinding pillar of temperamental sunlight before him.

"You come here. You bring Tarla. I don't… I don't understand. " She grasped her temples between her palms, the dangerous steam still lingering between them as she struggled with her confusion. The peace her father had granted her was thrown into turmoil once more with his advances. "You knew I would help her – how could I not? Is it a ruse? Is it a distraction? I am very well aware that I am courting my own death when it comes to Tarla. It is no secret or surprise; you won't catch me off guard with it - _Why have you come back now?_ " Her voice thundered with the last phrase and trembled with unchecked emotions.

Lotor eyed the near-lethal scalding mist between himself and the queen with wariness. Defenseless perhaps she had been once, but she was correct that she was not any longer. He watched closely and he saw the worrisome manifestation of acrimony and anxiety in equal amounts - he also saw underneath it and noticed a vein of torment that laced through it all. Allura was aching, and even  _she_  fought to subdue and ignore it.

"I want to believe you," she continued in her silence, her voice dangerously level despite the degree of magical energy she was sustaining. "I  _want_  to trust that you're here just because of Tarla; with no ulterior motives and that my people are still safe. But I need to know what happened two decades ago."

Lotor hesitated a moment before speaking. "I broke my promise to you, Allura, and I'm… I'm sorry," he said. He decided that in the heat of her panic and her startling pain, authenticity would resonate better with her than anything else. She had always been a master at ferreting out when someone was untruthful. Honesty would win the war at long last.

She glanced up to him, opening her eyes for the first time. Lotor had never apologized for anything before and his admission caught her by surprise. Her palms still rested on her temples as she tried to tame the torrent of confusion racing through her.

"…promise? You never made me a promise. Except of war and conquest," she said. Her question was still level, but it quivered as she struggled to control her emotions. Her hands slowly dropped to her sides.

"I did. You didn't know about it, however." He shifted his weight, but didn't move from his position sitting on the floor. Allura watched him carefully through the dangerous vapor. Every interaction, every stray word, every errant weapon drawn and every threat all in their history had been leading up to this moment. As much as Lotor dreaded where it was headed, he realized that avoiding it, especially after so long, would be disastrous.

Allura deserved her dues.

"Explain."

Her single-word reply caused Lotor to toss his head back and laugh darkly.

"I remember when I first met you – I was insulted that you would think you could even begin to give me an order. That was  _my_  job; to command, control and conquer. But. You dared try. You defied me. You defied Zarkon. It  _fascinated_  me," he watched as the temperature of the steam rose with her alarm. He smirked, leaning back into the softness of her mattress. He was careful to make it as blatantly obvious as possible that he did not intend to approach her.

"You were brilliant," he continued. "Never before had I seen someone as blinding, as strong, as brave… or as beautiful as you. I had to have you, naturally." He chuckled again, dropping his eyes from her, as if reminiscing on something. "Of course, taking you by force was the only obvious option. You wouldn't agree to come with me willingly. I had tried that already and got slapped. What the hell I would do with you once I had you though… …I didn't think that far through. I thought… if I could just have you, then… then you would see. You would learn to love me. You would rule beside me, of your own desire. I didn't…" He trailed off, glancing back up to the alarmed woman.

Her eyes were riveted on him like permafrost, her breath trapped in her chest. Her arms were outstretched slightly from her body, her fingers coiled into fists that sustained the manifestation of her emotions.

"I realized," he continued, looking away once more from her gaze. He couldn't bring himself to watch her too closely. He saw too many buried emotions behind the frigid look she cast him. Abandonment, fear, distrust and suspicion named only a few. His testimony was far more intimate than he had ever intended her to hear, but he couldn't stop the words as they fell from his lips. "I realized that everything I had done, everything I worked for… everything that I thought I wanted… …I realized none of it would endure. And… I also realized something else."

"Which was?" Her voice quivered and he noticed the temperature of the steam wall decreased slightly. It still stood between them, but the lethality of it subsided. He subconsciously calculated that he could throw himself through it now, if needed, and only endure minor burns.

"I realized that I did, in fact, truly love you, Allura. I had spoken the words boastfully the first few times we met, but I realized they had been authentic, even if I didn't know it at the time." He paused as she scowled at him in response. "Listen," he coaxed. "I mean it. I did back then, and I do now. I just… I didn't know how to show it properly at the time," he explained. When she continued to watch him blankly, he sighed.

"Won't you say something?" He did something unusual – he begged. Allura's lips twitched and she shook her head twice, her eyes never leaving his.

"You think love is conquering. Taking. Binding. Winning. Perhaps to you – perhaps, I will grant you that, you  _thought_  you loved me. From my perspective, it was a corrupted and vile impersonation. Love isn't taking. It's _giving_." Her words shattered a small part of the king, and he glared at Allura in response.

"I've given, Allura, more than you understand!" His temper flared as his voice rose.

"You've only ever taken from me! Taken my people, my planet, my friends, you've even tried to take my life and my will!" Her temper matched his own in a fury he both relished and resented and the fog between them augmented once more. His eyes glanced worriedly as her fists trembled violently from the effort required to sustain her bulwark for so long. Her muscles in her forearms strained against her efforts, but she persevered. As she had always done.  …As she always would.  "When have you ever  _given_ , Lotor?"

"I gave  _you_!" Allura stilled at his words, her eyes widening. A deep second of silence beat between them before he continued. "I gave you up so you could have everything you wanted! I buried Arus! I did that all for you!"

Allura trembled at his words, the humid buffer between them froze without warning before shattering into snowflakes, harmlessly fluttering to the ground as her fists released, flaring her fingers out.

"What," she whispered, her eyes wide and her body shaking. She was braced against the glass pane behind her as if the effort to stand were too much.

"You won!" He cried out again, thrusting his palms to his temple as he yelled across the room at the golden woman in frustration. Allura stayed quiet, watching him through horrified eyes. Her hands remained outstretched, her fingers tensed to conjure her shield again should she need it despite her fatigue.

_Relentless didn't just describe Lotor._

"Don't you see that? You  _won_  the war! Arus defeated Doom!" When Allura had no response, he continued and his passion and voice rose louder, though he was careful to remain seated. "You won – by not losing. You won – _by standing_.

“You _stood_. You never knelt. Fire rained down from your skies, and still you stood. Beasts ransacked your villages, and still you stood. Your castle was leveled, and yet you. _Still. Stood_. You even built another damned castle! Do you even know how much that pissed my father off? You never bent the knee, you never surrendered, and damn it, Allura.  _You. Won_. For all you endured, for all you suffered, you _won the war_! You beat us and you stood tall."

His last sentence was a soft whisper in sharp contrast to the hoarse cries that preceded it. He watched her carefully. Allura barely breathed, the last of the snowflakes fluttering to the bedroom floor.

"I… I won? I always thought I'd have to fight forever, that my veins would constantly bleed and my strength would ebb away with time…" she whispered, her hands clutching in front of her chest, drawing her robe in close to her body. Lotor's eyes narrowed.

"And do you know what that means for the rest of the Empire? Arus is eternally a target.  _You_  are forever a target! I may not have ever planned to come back to Arus, but my children, my children's children – or even some errant general – might come for you. To claim Arus – the tiny planet that withstood the Drule Invasion would be a commendable acquisition. By not losing – you made yourself a prize that  _everyone_  would try for. I... I couldn't stand the thought of that."

"That would mean…"

"Exactly. For the rest of all history, any species, race, or even ruler to actually manage to take Arus would be a hero. By resisting - by  _winning_  – Arus became more than just a tiny planet on the sidelines. It became the single most desirable target for  _any_ invading race, Drule or otherwise."

Allura paled as the wind vanished from her lungs. She had never considered the repercussions of winning the war. There would always be more. There would invariably be another army. She exhaled slowly, closed her eyes and bowed her head. She whimpered slightly. All she wanted was peace... and yet... Her back fell against the window behind her and her arms collapsed to her sides in defeat before she crashed down to her knees across the floor from the king himself. She bowed her head further as she braced against her palms, her golden hair forming its own protective barrier around her face to hide her emotions.

"Very well, bring them on. I shall fight them all back. I  _will_  win." The steel in her voice calmed the prince's temper some. She slowly raised her head until her eyes met his through her hair with newfound resolution. "I will  _always_  defend. I will not yield."

"They won't come for you," he explained, slowly relaxing. He flashed another characteristic grin at her confusion. "I buried you."

"You mentioned that before. What do you mean?"

"I went through all the archives of all the planets in all the Empire. I erased any mention of Arus, of Voltron, of  _you,_  that I could find. It took the better part of an entire year, but I wanted to make it so you never existed, Allura. I wanted to give your planet – to give _you_ – the chance to grow and flourish. I wanted to give you the thing you craved most in the entire galaxy. I removed as much as I could of our history from our records in the hope that no one would ever come again for your land or your people."

Allura didn't bother to check the tears trailing down her cheeks at his words as the realization of his statements slammed into her.

Lotor had  _protected_  her planet.

He didn't just stop his own invasion, he prevented any other from ever happening…  _for her._

He had acted against his own desire, his own infatuation and done something truly  _selfless_.

The torrent of emotion she felt was too strong to hold back. She felt the ice in her chest shatter as she choked on the pain that overflowed. There was no stopping it as it consumed her now.

He sighed in disgust.

"And I've made you cry. Again. I tried, Allura, I really did. I promised I would leave you alone, and try and keep you safe from everyone else. But then Tarla had… …I didn't know anyone else to reach out to. And I broke my promise. The promise I never told you I made. The only promise I ever made that I actually wanted to keep," he finished, glancing back to her. The admissions he could barely bring himself to even think about finished flooding from his lips as he watched the one woman who had forever changed the way he saw the universe.

Allura's hands clasped her mouth. Her shoulders trembled as she processed all the information she had received. The stoic maiden of war stared across the room at the one man in all the stars capable of shattering her resolve. And he had, profoundly, with undiluted precision, done exactly that.

Before the king realized what was happening, Allura had moved to sit before him on the floor. She bowed her head as she continued to process all the information – all the answers – she had received. After a moment of collecting her pain, she looked up to him, their noses a mere two inches apart.

"All that… for me?" She could hardly believe his words, her ache evident in her whisper.

"Yes," he said with utter sincerity. Slowly, he reached to her face and brushed away the free-falling tears. "I wanted you safe. I never stopped loving you," he reaffirmed, his lips only a brush from hers, a liberty he did not take. "Imagine my surprise to come to Arus after so long and find you… _alone_ ," he added quietly, darkly.

Allura averted her gaze.

"The war stopped…" she trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Because I did not want to fight you any longer. Which means you won," he said softly.

"I…" she gasped for air, struggling to comprehend everything. "And here I thought either you were plotting something catastrophic… or you had just finally forgotten about Arus."

"I could never forget you," he uttered with a dark possessiveness.

She shifted uncomfortably. Allura released a nervous exhale as she calmed herself. She sat before him in silence, letting the magnitude of everything settle in. He indulged her, content to stay against her bedframe, his hand upon her cheek, quick to steal any stray tear that fell.

She did not stop him. After several minutes of thoughtful silence, she spoke again.

"Imagine my surprise hearing you were getting married. To Merla, of all people. She never struck me as your type," she replied, settling her back against her bed beside him.

"Type?" He snorted in response. "Hardly. Neither of us feel such loyalty toward each other. I don't even know for certain how much she cares for Tarla," he admitted venomously.

"You love her," Allura said gently.

"Merla? Why in all that's evil-" He froze at her weak smile.

"I meant Tarla," she explained gently, reaching up to touch his shoulder gently. "She's amazing. I can't see how anyone couldn't. Brilliant, beautiful, clever and brave. Everything a Drule could hope to be," she added, watching his expression carefully.

"Do you regret not having children of your own, Allua?" Lotor watched as her eyes widened slightly at the thought. She shook her head once.

"I don't regret, Lotor. I can't allow myself that. I must always embrace that which I am, and that which I do. Regret… regret means you wished something different. I stand by every decision I've ever made. …don't you?"

"Not all of them," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers. She gathered herself together and rose back to her feet, staring down at him warmly. In a gesture he had never seen from the woman before, she extended her arm toward him to help him up.

His palm closed around hers and a tremble of electricity flooded his system as he rose.

"I will help Tarla," she said with confidence, wiping the last of her tears away. "In any way that I can," she added. He tilted his head to the side as he studied her closely. The sensation thrumming through Allura's veins was foreign. She felt a cacophonous mixture of relief, surprise, reverence and hope. 

_I almost feel young again,_  she thought at the strange giddiness thrumming her nerves. She bit down on her bottom lip shyly, watching him with open wonderment and fascination when he fixed his eyes on her suddenly.

"Yes?"

"You're… so very,  _very_  different than I ever expected," she murmured after a moment. "It's refreshing to still be surprised by people, I think." She nodded once as she affirmed her own thought. "Will Merla pose a problem? I rather think I convinced her to let Tarla learn, but I do not want to cross any boundaries with her."

"Merla won't be a problem as long as she believes that she, herself, stands to benefit from it in some way. I'll deal with her myself if necessary. I'm not letting you anywhere near her," he practically growled the last sentence.

He exhaled, closing his eyes briefly before glancing to Allura.

"Are you well?"

"Exhausted," she admitted. "I… that was pushing it for me." She blushed when his hand closed around her elbow and he helped her sit down on the edge of her bed. The queen found herself in an altogether surreal situation – sitting on her bed, staring up at Lotor in the darkness, both rulers in their night clothes.

"Rest then," he instructed. She quirked an eyebrow at him playfully.

"Ordering me around again? That hasn't exactly worked out well for you in the past," she teased. He shook his head once, closing his eyes. With a groan, he turned to leave and froze when Allura's hands touched his.

He barely dared to breathe, fearful he would frighten her from the connection she had initiated. Slowly he turned to look back at her as both her palms clutched around his hand as she carefully considered her words. Her head was lowered and golden hair once more hid her face from him.

"Thank you," she articulated after a moment of silence beat between them. "I didn't… I didn't understand and I… …I don't… …thank you," she finally glanced up to him, a wary look on her face. She trembled slightly. "I'm…" She exhaled, glancing away from him.

"Yes?"

"...You still frighten me. This is… strange and very, very new for me. I'm… trying," she admitted, a flush on her cheeks.

"I would never harm you."

"Not physically, perhaps no. But, that's not what I fear," she whispered.

"Allura."

"Why didn't you tell me all that twenty years ago?" Her temper snapped back to its usual, feisty level and her voice strengthened with annoyance. "I spent many sleepless nights sick to my stomach worried about another invasion." She glared at him.

"Would you have believed me if I had?"

He laughed quietly as the irritation vanished from her face. She pouted.

"No, probably not. It probably would have alarmed me more, honestly," she admitted. She dropped his hand. "I'm going to rest now, I feel… off. I think that strained me more than I thought it did," she said. He nodded and with only a thoughtful moment's hesitation, he withdrew his palm from her hands. He retained a moment, reaching out to touch her cheek briefly before turning to leave her chambers.

Allura had just fallen backward from where she was sitting when the door slid open again. She opened one eye.

All traces of fatigue left her instantly as adrenaline flooded her system. She bolted upright and moved wordlessly to the door at the alarmed look on the king's face.


	11. Revival

_Twenty Minutes Earlier_

Tarla leaned back against the wall in the hallway, her hands clasped over her mouth.

_It's her!_

Her mind flashed to an old memory.

_Lotor glanced down to his daughter sitting next to him in the coliseum._

_"I've only ever loved one woman, Tarla. And now you, too." He smiled down at her as a proud father would._

_"So you **do** love Mother!"_

Tarla remembered her surprise at the haunted, pained look on the king's face before he looked back to the battle unfolding before them.

_"I never said that."_

She blinked, clearing her mind of the ghost.

"It's her," she murmured aloud, staring wide-eyed at closed bedroom door. "It's always been her." She held her breath, listening to the elevated conversation on the other side of the wall. Her father and Allura were in a heated discussion. She exhaled sharply as more memories fell into place.

The gold lion statue.

_"It's a fairly good likeness, don't you think?"_

She reeled.

All the strange actions on the part of her father suddenly made sense. Why he kept the statue; why it was so important.

The secrets he never spoke about.

_"An old friend?"_

_"That remains to be seen."_

Why he never drew his sword when she struck him during their first meeting. He protected her - he  _cared_  for her. He cared for her in a way he never cared for Mother. And Allura cared for  _her_  in turn in a way Mother never had.

"You won the war!"

She stared, wide-eyed at the developing news. Doom and Arus. Allura and her father. Both voices dropped to unintelligible murmurs, occasionally permeated with a sob or a laugh.

_Why her?_

Her body felt numb as she processed the information. Irritation flared in her blood.  _Why didn't Father tell me? Why didn't Allura tell me? What else are they hiding from me?_ She scowled at the door. Some part of Tarla felt that she had always known, she had just never pieced it all together.

"I thought she was honest," she whispered to herself. "But she never told me that. I even  _asked._ " Confusion rippled through her as the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place. Tarla had learned that Arus and Doom had been enemies; her grandfather had tried to conquer the planet. Her heart stopped briefly as something resonated.

_"He lost to a great warrior."_

"Grandfather killed him," she uttered, realizing that for the first time in all of history, two bloody, warring factions were collaborating - and for her sake. Because of Father and Allura. _And I would have never known_. "How can she not hate me?"  _Why **won’t** she hate me? She should!_  She backed away slowly from the closed door as her mind continued to run rampant.

The sound of the door opening sent Tarla bolting down the hallway toward her own room without a glance back. She felt just as cross with her father as she did Allura. She couldn't articulate exactly why, but she felt cheated as if something wonderful had been presented before her and then snatched away. Merla was a shocking, painful contrast to the Arusian woman and the difference infuriated her.

She collapsed on her bed and howled in fury into her pillow. Tarla barely noticed as the room warmed around her.

"It's not fair! Why  _her_? Why am I-" She sat upright, pausing as a knock sounded on her door. She wiped her eyes quickly with the back of her hand.

She stilled on her bed, staring at the door. Once she was certain no trace of tear streak lingered on her face, she spoke up.

"It's unlocked."

The door whirred open and Tarla was unsurprised to see Allura standing on the other side, her hands folded politely in front of her. She noticed that her father hovered behind the woman, his eyes fixed on something in the distance.

"Tarla, I think we should talk, if you'll let me. I think... I think I owe you some answers," she explained carefully, not yet entering the room. Tarla's eyes narrowed carefully on the dangerous woman.

_It's her castle. She can go anywhere she likes. And yet... she knocked. ...And she waited. She would probably even leave if I asked._

"Come in," she beckoned carefully. Lotor's eyes glanced to his daughter's over Allura's shoulder. She moved effortlessly into the room, but he stayed behind. She read the torn expression his face - the worry for her and the concern for the human girl: the only woman he had ever loved. Her jaw twitched slightly and the heat in the room escalated.

Allura settled into a chair near the bed and smiled at the Drule princess as the door closed.

"It has come to my attention that perhaps the last hour wasn't quite as confidential as I thought it was, and I... I wanted to apologize. I had... a lot of things to sort out with both myself and King Lotor. I'm not sure I would have even had answers for you before now, and I may yet be lacking. But. I encourage you to unleash your questions on me. Release your fury in my presence. I will to my very best to ease your curiosity with purpose and honesty, Tarla. I never meant to keep you in the dark."

Tarla eyed the woman dangerously before taking her up on the offer. She exhaled once, calming her passion slightly.

"Very well. How do you know Father?"

Allura smiled at the girl.

"Would you like the easy, direct answer to that question, or would you like the convoluted, complicated answer to the actual question?" Tarla eyed the human woman warily.

"The latter."

Allura nodded once.

"It will take a moment to explain. King Zarkon - Lotor's father - and my father, were enemies. They engaged in combat multiple times. Eventually, Zarkon won. He killed my father on the battlefield," she paused as Tarla nodded, having already reached that conclusion herself. She still found herself surprised by how much of the blue planet's history had been erased. Her father had been thorough, at least within the Drule regime. She wondered briefly how many volumes of information Allura had lying around her castle alone.

"I loved my father very much. But that's what war is. That's what combat does. Several years after my planet had turned to rubble and our scattered people were hiding in the hills, the Galaxy Alliance sent the five pilots to me. They found the keys and they resurrected Voltron. For the first time, we fought back. We were able to engage Zarkon and win. I was far too incompetent to fight him directly. I barely could hold a sword at the time," she explained.

"How old were you when your father died?"

Allura fixed the princess with a strange look.

"No one has ever asked me that. I was eighteen. Old enough to rule. Old enough to understand what the death of my father meant. Young enough to have no idea what to do. Fortunately, I had Coran to guide me, even through our destruction.

“Shortly after the Voltron Force arrived, my childhood governess returned to help restore the Castle.  Between the two of them, they were amazing. Coran used to be a scientist in the castle. As we entered into the war, he became more of an advisor and diplomat. He was... so useful. So kind," she trailed off, smiling at the memory of her guardians. "Nanny was like a surrogate mother for me. A bit overbearing at times, but she meant well. "

"And Father?"

Allura turned a confused look on the princess as she acclimated her thoughts to the present day.

"Oh, Lotor. Yes, he didn't turn up until a little later. My planet was in embers, half my population enslaved. We had a defense force for the first time but we barely knew how to use it. Nearly daily, Zarkon launched an assault against us, once he realized we weren’t as destroyed as he had thought. It was... exhausting.  And then... one day, out of nowhere, a small ship appeared. Lotor was inside."

Tarla edged out on her seat, watching as the woman clasped her hands together in front of her.

"He introduced himself. ...I think I rather angered him by telling him to get off my planet," she murmured, giggling at the old memory. "He didn't like that much. He... ended up challenging Keith to a fight. Lotor won, naturally. No one died that day, however. But from then on out... any chance he had..." She shook her head, remembering the danger of the feisty crown prince. "I'm fairly certain Zarkon even resented him for it, but I can't be completely sure. I rather believe Arus had become a blinding passion for both Zarkon and Lotor. A small, insignificant planet that – simply because we had withstood so much – we were the primary target."

"You've met Mother in combat, as well."

Allura stilled and nodded once. She recognized easily where the conversation was going.

"I should clarify - I haven't engaged either of your parents in combat. I neither wanted, nor attempted that. I only defended when _they_ drew the sword."

"It could have been you," she murmured in awe at Allura. The queen looked stunned.

"What could have been?"

She just shook her head one.

"Why is it you?"

"Why is… what me?" Allura's confused expression grew more pronounced as Tarla struggled to articulate her disheveled thoughts.

"Merla is the ideal Drule Queen. She's lethal, a warrior, cold and calculating. She does everything she can to win. But he chose  _you._  Why?" Tarla's golden eyes narrowed on the slender Arusian.

Allura smiled helplessly with a shrug.

"I've both wondered and asked him that question many times myself. He has yet to give me a satisfactory answer. Until just earlier tonight, I never believed it had been genuine, to be honest. I thought it was, at its most sincere, a faulty obsession if not just another tactic to claim my planet."

When Tarla stayed quiet, Allura continued.

"I'm sorry. If it feels like we kept this from you, it wasn't on purpose. He and I… we fought a lot in the past. I didn't yet know where things were now. I didn't know… why."

"With all the destruction and distrust between you, you were still willing to teach me?" A different train of thought struck Tarla suddenly. Allura fixed her with an openly pleasant look.

"Of course. I don't think I could have turned you away if I wanted to."

The animosity she felt toward the Arusian melted at the admission. She retained annoyance at her father yet, but she could find no fault in Allura for her choices. Despite her confusion and despite her fears, the woman had still opted to tutor her.

Her father, and her father's father, had attacked and destroyed many of the queen's possessions and parts of her planet in the past. They were enemies. They had been for decades, years, perhaps a century or longer.

And yet, Tarla found herself sitting on a plush guestroom bed on Arus, in the dead of night, with its very fearsome queen sitting across from her in a chair. Her hands were clasped before her, her head bowed as she ultimately asked forgiveness from the princess.

"You're dangerous," Tarla observed aloud for the first time. Allura slowly raised her eyes to regard the young girl curiously.

"Dangerous? I've considered myself many things and been accused of far more, but that is not one of them," she murmured. "Stubborn. Idealist. Afraid. Lost. Wrong. But not ever dangerous. I have never desired to harm anyone, Tarla," she said.

"Perhaps only a Drule would understand why that precise fact is what makes you dangerous," she conceded. When Allura only shrugged helplessly again in response with a broken smile across her face, Tarla continued.

"Do you love Father?"

The shocked expression on Allura's face stunned Tarla. After a second's pause while Allura processed the radical shift in conversation, she answered the princess.

"No, I don't think that I do."

Tarla's eyes narrowed.

"Why not?"

"I have never known him," she admitted. "Most of our interaction, prior to a few days ago, was hostile and violent. I don't know that it would be easy to love someone who wanted to destroy everything you loved."

"But he didn't, did he?"

"I did not know that until recently," she murmured thoughtfully.

"So, knowing that, do you love him now?"

Allura's icy eyes fixed on the princess.

"Why are you so intent on that?"

Tarla hesitated in her answer, considering it carefully. She wasn't entirely sure what the answer was herself. Was she trying to push the queen into the role that Merla so willingly abdicated?

"I don't have that answer for you, I'm sorry Tarla," Allura hedged out at the princess' silence.

"Would you give him a chance now?"

Allura's eyes widened in genuine surprise.

"I… Tarla, he has someone already," she whispered quietly, startled by both the question and the flush that stained her cheeks at the thought. "What about your mother?"

The young woman only fidgeted in response before changing the subject.

"And Grandfather. Did you like him?"

"Stars, no!" Allura cried out, aghast. Her skin turned an ashen shade. "He tried to kill me! He did terrible things to the people I care for."

Tarla just smiled at the queen mysteriously, surprisingly satisfied with the reaction and answer she had given her. Allura had never displayed such a vehement disapproval of her father, so perhaps there was still a chance.  _A chance at what?_  She frowned at her own internal question that she couldn't answer.

"Was there anything else?" Allura politely redirected the question back to the princess.

"I…" Tarla trailed off thoughtfully. "I think that answers my questions for now," she admitted, considering it. "Can we still practice tomorrow morning?"

Allura's eyes widened in surprise at the thirst for knowledge. She shook her head once.

"I'm afraid not, Tarla, I think you've exhausted yourself too much today," she said gently.

"Can I watch you work?"

Allura gave her a weak smile.

"We'll see. I might have exhausted myself too much today, as well," she said delicately. Tarla honed in on the statement.

"What did you do? I didn't see anything earlier when we were practicing," she said, tilting her head to the side and eyeing the golden woman.

"I… I called upon my power earlier this evening," she explained.

"Was it when you were with Father?"

Allura paused before answering.

"Yes." The queen had decided to be honest with the princess as best she could. There was little she wanted to keep from the young Drule.

"Tell me what it was," she said, a hint of conspiracy in her voice as she watched her excitedly. All concern and frustration abated, Tarla was fascinated by the woman's power. Allura only blushed humbly.

"I… it was just steam. I was scared and I was angry with Lotor," she explained. Tarla nodded her head up and down in response before she stilled, the reality of what she had said settling in fully.

"Wait. Steam would be water and fire… right? Did you… sustain that?" Tarla's jaw dropped when Allura only nodded.

"It was a substantial drain though; don't mistake me for anything great. I'm barely conscious right now," she admitted.

"Why are you here, then? You should be resting."

"Why, I was worried about you!" Allura frowned, eyeing the young princess with concern. Tarla just stared back, struck. A warm sensation settled in her chest as the Drule eyed the human woman. Allura's skin was paler than it should have been and the crinkle around her eyes was more prominent than usual. The queen was exhausted beyond all measure, and yet she still sat in Tarla's room and even offered to bear her fury and wrath.

"I… …I am fine, thank you," she said after a moment, unable to articulate the magnitude of the meaningfulness of the gentle gesture.

Allura smiled and nodded.

"I will let you take your rest, then. Tomorrow, we will see. I'm afraid neither of us may be in a place to safely practice. But, if you'd like to explore, I can show you my planet," she said with a smile as she rose from the chair.

Tarla nodded, settling back into her bed as Allura tossed her one last look as she left the room. The queen startled when she met Lotor standing on the other side of the princess's door.

"What are you still doing here?"

"Is everything okay?" He deflected her question with one of his own, glancing nervously between Allura and his daughter. The blonde merely gestured into the room, a fatigued smile on her lips.

"It appears to be," she said with a shake of her head. "I am retiring though," she murmured. Lotor caught her arm as she started to walk by him. She paused and turned to regard him curiously.

"Join me," he instructed. She frowned in response.

"I hardly think-"

"Just for rest, nothing more," he clarified. Allura exhaled and glanced down the hallway toward her room before looking back to him. "I swear."

"Very well," she finally uttered after a moment of silent contemplation stretched between them. "I'm too exhausted to argue."

He used her arm as leverage to pull her toward him, and to his immense delight she offered little resistance. His arm snaked around her waist and he helped support the weakened monarch. She whimpered slightly in protest as he pulled her close, but she didn't fight him.

"Then don't," he whispered into her hair. He felt her body shiver against his as his lips brushed her ear.

"Lotor…"

"Yes?"

Allura looked up at the rugged man as he held her closer and more delicately than he ever had before. She surprised herself by blushing.

"I… I don't know," she said after a gentle silence passed between them.

"What do you stand to lose?"

"So very, very much," she murmured, much to his surprise. She yielded him a smile at the alarmed shock that flashed across his face.

"Allura."

"Don't worry," she whispered in response, not ready to divulge the dangerous secrets she retained still. While she was prepared to be an open book for Tarla, there were many things she would prefer to withhold from the king still. When he glared at her in response, she gave his arm a light pat and began making her way to his room. Once recovering himself, he quickly followed and guided her with his support.

Allura allowed herself a weakness she had never displayed openly to the man before; she let her weight lean into him. She allowed him to see her fatigue, and she allowed him to help support her in it. Never before would she have let Lotor see her in any state other than sturdy and steadfast. Somewhere, in all that had happened, she had found a sliver of trust. A glimmering shard of hope told her that it was safe to be vulnerable.

He eased open the doors and helped her to the bed. She quickly crawled in, eager for rest. Her body actively hurt from the exertion she had experienced earlier. Her muscles craved rest and the comfort of the plush mattress was eagerly welcome.

A second of relief passed before she remembered that she had been invited to share Lotor's bed. Quickly rolling onto her side, she glanced up to the man in alarm. He simply watched her with a careful expression on his face.

"Rest well, Allura," he instructed as he peeled off the shirt he was wearing before settling in beside her with no other aggression. She flushed hot as his skin brushed hers.

"I'm… here with you," she whispered in surprise. She felt his earthy chuckle vibrate the mattress.

"I'm nearly as surprised as you," he replied.

She exhaled, finding relaxation in the fact he simply laid on his back. He did not reach for her or draw her close. He did not initiate any unwanted touches. Lotor seemed content to simply lie beside her. Allura smiled shyly in the darkness before scooting up next to him.

The king’s eyes widened in surprise when she laid her head on his shoulder. With a startling carefulness, he slid his arm around her waist.

"Things are so strange," she murmured in her half-asleep state. Allura found it both surprising and compelling that for the first time in decades, she felt _safe_. Every night before had been steeped in the unknown. One ear was always open, one hand always near a weapon.

Nestled into Lotor's side, his powerful hand splayed across her hip, Allura felt a security that had long been foreign.

"Very strange," she murmured again as she allowed her guard to lower enough to slip into a blissful unconsciousness.


	12. Affinity

"This is magnificent!" Tarla cried aloud as she practically flew across the terrain. Lotor and Allura were right behind her, all three mounted on horseback as the queen gave a tour of the surrounding land near her castle.

While Lotor was an accomplished equestrian, Tarla had never had the opportunity to ride before. After a quick lesson, she had taken to the sport with exceeding competence, as with everything else. Allura could only laugh as the princess gave her horse enough of the reins to let it run full speed ahead of them. She barreled along the path in the hillside they followed, the horse leaping over boulders and mirroring the younger woman's energy.

Lotor was right behind his daughter as he draped elegantly across a midnight-colored beast. The animal seemed to suit his style, charging straight to the destination with a direct determination. Allura's companion, by contrast, was a chestnut stallion and loped at a relaxed, easy pace behind the other two. He kept speed but possessed little desire to pass or race against the others and seemed untroubled by the dense, layered gown adorning his rider as it flared with each stride and trailed behind him.

Tarla cheered in the distance as her horse picked up even more speed. The animal Allura had chosen from her stables for the princess to ride had been a twofold decision. Ray was a brilliant bey colt, young in his years. While demonstrating a desire for speed, he was also conscientious of his rider. Allura had determined that he was an ideal match for a novice rider that would, invariably, enjoy the thrill of the sport's speed. For a less confident equestrian, Ray's speed would have been far too intimidating.

Allura reached down and gave Stardust a pat on his right shoulder before returning her hands into position on the reins. Phantom, Lotor's charge, had slowed to a trot and Allura quickly covered the ground between them, coming to walk at his left. He slowed the gait to match her as both watched Tarla bolt across the open plains.

"I promise that she is safe," Allura reassured him. Her body moved with the natural rhythm of the gait, easily comfortable in the saddle. Her gown billowed around her and even bustled up at the withers as she opted against the sidesaddle seat. It flowed over the hindquarters and trailed behind her elegantly – the flutter and rustle of which would startle most equines. When Lotor only glanced to her in response, she continued. "Ray may be eager for speed, but he's very aware of Tarla, too."

"I'm not worried. She's taken to riding like a master," he said, returning his eyes to his daughter. "Even if he throws her, she'll get back up. She's resilient."

"Getting thrown isn't so bad," Allura murmured. "I mean, it might bruise the backside for a day, but there are far worse injuries to sustain. It's not like any of us are a stranger to combat."

A strange silence passed between them before Lotor responded to her.

"Tarla is," he said quietly. Allura sat thoughtfully for a moment longer before easing Stardust over to a shady tree. She could still watch Tarla as the girl raced laps around the Arusian landscape, but was sheltered from the sun. Lotor closed the gap and eased his beast next to her under the leafy branches.

"At what age do young Drules seek out their first planet to conquer?" She glanced over to him, regarding him with open curiosity. There was no hostility behind her words, despite the fact that Lotor knew damn well the idea of conquering was something he and Allura would always disagree on.

"As early as thirteen. She could begin her own campaign now, if she wanted. Though, they typically see their first acquisition by sixteen or seventeen," he added as she looked back to the princess.

Allura remained quiet, only the swish of her horse's tail broke the silence.

"What do you think her first target will be?" Her fingers twitched nervously as he slowly turned his eyes on her, but Allura kept her gaze focused on the girl. She released the reins completely as Stardust lowered his head to graze on the grass near his hooves.

"Are you worried for Arus?"

"I'm always worried for Arus," she answered too quickly. Lotor looked back to Tarla after a moment longer of studying the queen's impassive profile.

"You needn't be," he said. "Your planet has a very powerful defender," he paused, a hint of a smirk tracing across his lips. "Oh, and Voltron, too."

He delighted in the flush of crimson across Allura's cheeks as she realized the compliment he paid her.

"Yes, well. Tarla will be phenomenal, you know," she said demurely, trying to hide the secret smile threatening to blossom across her face.

"I don't think she'll come here, Allura," he said quietly. "At least not with hostile force. She seems to be charmed by your planet."

"Weren't you?" She gave him a coy smile and he laughed darkly in response.

"No, my sweet. I was charmed by  _you._ " She blushed again and Lotor found a deep satisfaction in the effect. He decided that it was a reaction he would like to elicit more often.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as their eyes locked together. Her lips were parted in surprise, the warm hue lingered her cheeks. Unreadable expressions flushed both their visages, each seemingly fascinated with the other.

A cool breeze rustled Allura's hair and she slowly tore her eyes from him to look to where Tarla had slowed to a canter. Several moments of silence continued to trickle past as her blush calmed.

"I don't want to fight her. Not because I know I'll fall in battle, but because I would never want to strike against her. But I will, if necessary. I will give everything that I have, I will shatter my body to protect this place, you know," she said darkly, barely whispering the words that haunted her. When he didn't respond right away, she wondered briefly if her confession had been lost to the breeze wrapping around them.

"I _do_ know," he murmured back in understanding. Allura found a strange comfort in voicing her fears to Lotor. The irony that it would be him, of everyone in the galaxy, to bring her comfort was not lost on her. Comfort against the fear of siege, of all nightmares.

"She will win," she said with more conviction. A flare of concern twisted in the back of her mind.  _You still haven't ruled out that he won't use her to do that very thing, why are you telling him all this?_  She looked over to his profile as he watched Tarla.

"And yet you're still teaching her."

When Allura said nothing in response, he glanced back to the queen and was met with something new. Her expression was contorted with pain and sadness. She had never been so open with her emotions with him before; he was more familiar with the stony bulwark she braced against. With nothing left to lose, nothing left to give, she yielded honesty to him.

"Yes."

The heavy silence that fell between them as he searched her face for any information he could divine stretched out.

"What have you been doing this whole time," he whispered.

"Waiting," she replied simply.

"Alone."

"I am very alone, Lotor. Everyone close to me has left. I don't begrudge them that. I worry Lance has stayed not because he wants to, but because he knows if he leaves too, there won't be anyone left for me." She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and hugged herself, looking back toward the princess, unable to handle his gaze.

"I expected to be met with a bustling castle and an expansive kingdom. Your home is about as quiet as it was after my father laid his army upon you."

"Yes. Without war, there is no need for a commander. There is no need for a mechanic to repair my ships on a daily basis. There is no need for an engineer to build more… there's… there's no need for anyone to stay with me," she finished as tears flooded her eyes unexpectedly. She turned her profile away from him completely, looking over her opposite shoulder, missing the look of open shock on his features. She sniffled and dabbed at her eyes. With an exhale, she collected herself and looked back to Tarla.

"Anyway," she redirected the conversation, blushing at the sudden surge of emotions. "Yes, Tarla is doing magnificently. She will become easily the single most powerful person in the galaxy very soon," she explained. "Between her skill as a warrior and what she's able to master with the magic, she will be absolutely unstoppable."

"Allura."

"Merla is the wildcard I worry about more than anything," she continued, as if she hadn't heard him – or was afraid to address the subject.

"Allura," he repeated, his voice taking on a more commanding lilt. He wasn't ready to change the subject so abruptly. She had flashed a moment of vulnerability before him and had quickly closed up and returned to being a tactician. The shield she left between them was just as impenetrable as the frosty demonstration she revealed the second day on her planet.

"I don't know what her intentions are or what she desires, so I can't properly calibrate-"

Allura froze as Lotor moved his horse right beside her, their thighs touching from the backs of their mounts. In a swift, single moment, the arrogant leader seized Allura's attention. With a touch to her jaw, he turned her face toward him, his lips sealing her own.

Both rulers were equally surprised at the action. Lotor was stunned he had finally managed it after years of being stopped with a strike, while Allura was caught by too much surprise to react.

Before fury ebbed into her veins, a very different warmth flooded through her. After years of isolation, sacrifice and loneliness, Allura _reveled_ in the sensation of desire. Need bubbled to the surface at his touch. 

_All this time._  

Her thoughts were disjointed as her mind attempted to reorient itself. Her fingers flexed as her muscle memory urged her to strike him.

She raised her hand.

In a swift, single stroke, she grasped his coat and pulled him closer. Coherent thought lost, she threw herself into the moment. She was already tutoring someone who could tear her planet apart. 

_What's left to lose?_  

Allura was vaguely aware that he had dismounted as his hands slipped around her waist, easing her down to the ground from the saddle. Her lips never left his as one hand clutched tightly to his chest and the other snaked into his hair, desperate to eliminate all space between their bodies.

_Crave._

Need flooded her, desire ached. After being a mere shadow on her planet for so long, watching and supporting everyone else's goals and ambitions, Allura felt _alive_ \- and she felt greedy.

Her back brushed against something hard as he maneuvered them to the trunk of the tree. Lotor devoured her hungrily and Allura obliged him, surprising them both. She hadn't realized how much she yearned for companionship in the years she had lost it until he offered it to her.

It wasn't a need that could be satisfied by just anyone; there was something intrinsic about _him_ and the courtship they had shared for so long that set her on fire.

Time had not dulled the longing – it had only fanned the flames.  Allura’s thighs felt weak as electricity pulsed down her spine and she nearly moaned against him.  Lotor sank his teeth gently into her  bottom lip, tugging slightly until she parted them, his tongue wasting no time as he thrust into her.

She pulled away from him just long enough to take a deep breath before he kissed her deeply again, igniting her skin anew, unwilling to allow a second apart from her.

He pinned her to the tree with his hips, the king's weight heavy against her

_I was a fool to think I could stay away,_  he thought darkly as he consumed her sunlight. His hands roved her body openly, one stayed on her waist possessively while the other took liberties with her torso that she did not object to.

He had been so long without touch that he felt the impulse of a mere schoolboy as she pulled him closer. There was no substitution for the vibrant woman so pliant beneath his touch, begging for more.

Lotor couldn't remember the last time his blood had roared so hotly.  His wife chilled his bed and their brief courtship had been a dance of violence and a battle for dominance.  With a single, breathless moan against his advances, Allura's radiance obliterated the shadow of the Drule queen as she seared his mind with her lips and etched her pain into his soul.

_Such need._

He groaned against her, nearly undone by his own want.

_I tried to do the right thing for you,_  he thought to her, nearly convinced she could hear him in the crucible they shared. Their connection was blinding and left him staggering.

"I know," she whispered as she gasped for air before kissing him again, her hands lacing through his hair.

He barely processed the words as he continued to embrace the woman before him. Lotor knew he was overstepping when he attempted to peel the shoulder off her gown and her hand quickly caught his. She broke away from the kiss but did not push him away.

"Are you sure you want to do that in front of your daughter?" She whispered to him between ragged breaths, shocking him with her boldness.  Allura did not berate him the invitation, only chastised his choice of timing.

Lotor blinked, struggling to conjure words in his mind.

She cradled his hand gently, her lips brushing his lightly as she spoke. He regarded her for a moment, her breath warm on his skin. He said nothing, but eased himself off the panting woman. He took a moment to look over her form as she leaned back against the tree, watching him intently, his hand still in hers.

Her dress was rumpled and her hair disheveled, and her skin blushed bright, her lips red and parted. Though most striking were her eyes. She watched him with open fascination; no anger nor fear – and they were _wild_. Her chest was heaving and she politely re-positioned the shoulder of her gown.

"Well," she whispered while blushing in an attempt to collect her dignity. "That was unexpected."

Lotor only shook his head once in an attempt to clear the haze from his eyes. Allura looked over her shoulder to find that Stardust and Phantom had wandered a short distance away, grazing on the grass. She stepped out into the sunlight to retrieve them. She passed the reins of Phantom to Lotor before easing herself back into her saddle.

"I'm… going to wait a moment," he explained at her curious look when he did not retake his mount. Lotor was none too keen on attempting to straddle a horse in his current physical state. She shrugged naively and looked back out across the plains. Tarla had stopped in her riding and was watching the two adults with an amused aloofness before calling to them.

"Are you finished yet?"

Allura flushed a deep red, burying her face in her palms in mortification as Lotor laughed loudly with pride. The queen took a moment to cough and calm her blush before urging Stardust to movement.

She trotted her horse over to the girl as Lotor settled back into Phantom's saddle.

"Can we go somewhere else? I want to keep exploring!"

Allura glanced up and fanned the redness off her cheeks as she refocused her mind on business.

"What would you like to visit, Tarla?"

She paused and regarded the queen as she approached.

"What are my options?"

"There are canyons, forests and beaches. We could go see the volcano, but that's better by ship, not by horse," she explained, pointing to the mountainous region in the distance where the Red Lion slept.

"How about the beach?" Allura only nodded to Tarla's request and spurred her charge to a smooth canter gait, leading the way to the sandy shores, her regal garments billowing behind her with an ethereal elegance, matching her hair. The queen felt a measure of pleasure at Tarla's interest in the watery regions of her planet. Lotor's ride caught up to them and the trio bounded across the plain. As she led the way over a ridge, Tarla cheered in delight.

Below, the grassy field sloped into a sandy recline that dropped to an inviting cove. Tarla urged Ray on toward the water's edge, and both princess and equine delighted as the sea sprayed around them. Allura smiled secretly.

"She makes you happy," Lotor's voice commented next to her. Allura glanced over to him.

"I see such vitality and thirst for knowledge in her."

"Do you see any of yourself?"

"Why would I? She isn't mine. Though I hardly see any of Merla in her, to be fair. Mostly just you."

"Merla barely spends any time with her. More might manifest if she did, but… perhaps its better if she didn't," he admitted. Allura giggled genuinely, a strange, brilliant vibration illuminating her soul. 

_Happy._

"You truly don't care for her, do you?" She shook her head in disbelief.

"No, not a bit. Allura-"

He paused as she looked to him curiously when he changed the subject.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any… telepathic abilities with your magic?" He hedged the question carefully and Allura frowned.

"You mean like Merla does? No, that's an entirely different field of magic. I have no such inclinations toward it. Why do you ask?"

He stared at her, struck. Only half-convinced he hadn't hallucinated it in the haze of heat between them, he only offered her a shrug.

"Just curious."

She just watched him for a moment before shaking her head once. She nudged her horse to a trot and followed Tarla out onto the sandy shore. Lotor lingered back, watching the woman as she dismounted. With a pat to his shoulder, Stardust began meandering along the coast.

He watched with rapt attention as Allura kicked off her pink heels and lifted up her skirt up to her calves before dancing barefoot into the tides. Ray raced back past the queen with a giggling Tarla on his back still. The spray of the sea kicked up, dousing Allura in fine, salted mist. Allura laughed in response and as Ray barreled down the beach before turning around again, the queen readied herself.

All call for formality gone, she allowed her dress to fall back to the water and she knelt into the waves, waiting for the princess to pass by again. As the horse galloped by, Allura leapt from the seafoam, delivering a splash directly to the rider. Tarla screeched playfully and the sunqueen cheered, dancing in the water at her small victory.

Allura's hair plastered to her face and her heavy gown clung to her curves as she shimmered in the overhead Arusian sunlight. As the horse prepared for another ride-by, Allura tossed water droplets into the air, reflecting the light like a thousand prisms. Tarla caught the woman by surprise by leaping off the back of the horse as it passed, diving into the water to surface next to her. She splashed at the Allura with a vigor befitting a Drule in combat. Allura could only release a startled cry before returning the gesture in kind.

Lotor found himself wandering down to the edge of the water, still mounted, transfixed with the near-magical scene unfolding him, as the two most precious people to him danced in a circle, kicking water up at each other in fits of laughter.

As if they were in telekinetic sync, they both paused and turned to look at him. He blinked as both women broke into playful grins at the same time.

"You wanted to practice today, right Tarla?"

Tarla's eyes lit up as she realized what Allura was thinking as the queen pointed at Lotor.

"That's your mark. Your element is water. Let's see what you can do," she said, grinning playfully at the king.

"I'm… _what_?" Lotor looked blatantly confused as the women conspired against him.

Allura clapped and looked back to Tarla as the young woman conjured a sphere of water that hovered over Lotor's head. He glanced up just as it broke, soaking him and his horse. Both he and Phantom regarded the giggling women with an exceedingly unimpressed look.

"Well done," Allura commended the princess. Tarla only laughed as another wave crashed into them. Allura reached out and caught her arm when Tarla's balance wavered.

"Oh, I did not expect such force," she murmured.

"If you turn your profile to the waves, it's easier to stand," Allura advised, turning so the waves struck her hip rather than her back. "The less of you that you present to the pressure, the more stable you become."

Tarla followed her directions and nodded, surprised that it was much easier to hold her own against the pulse of tides when she presented only a slim strikepoint.

"Doesn't your gown weigh you down?" Tarla pointed to the layers of pink, white and gold fabric that floated in the water around her.

"It does, but I've learned to adjust to it," she explained gently.

Tarla turned away from the woman and faced the endless sea stretching into the distance.

"Could I command this entire body of water?"

Allura stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating the thought.

"You could. It would be… excruciating for you. The amount of energy required to even channel that kind of focus would drain you just like that," she said with a snap of her fingers. "In theory, yes it is possible, though in practice not so much, to answer your question."

"Can I try?"

Allura looked over her shoulder to regard the young princess.

"I couldn't stop you, but I would advise against it," she answered her honestly.

"What happens when you use too much of your energy?" Tarla watched as Allura drew a sphere of seawater up between her palms with an effortlessness that mirrored scooping the water manually.

"Our energy is… _us_. It is our emotion. Our desire. Our thought. To burn it all up would… _consume_ us. We would become lost," she said mystically. "Very difficult to do, however," she said with a sudden shift in attitude, becoming cheery again as the water sphere returned to the sea around them.

"The thing that would most realistically happen is that you would become too exhausted to do anything more with it. You would become weak, perhaps unable to move," she said, her mind briefly flitting back to the previous night where she had physically leaned against the King of Doom.

"But it is possible… to spend too much?"

"It is always possible, Tarla. Especially with this. We can always spend or give too much of ourselves away. Unlikely; we have safeguards to protect us. For example, when my energy becomes low, my body will become physically weak to the point where I cannot focus or raise my hands to draw more energy from myself. It is, however, plausible for an individual to be able to push through the fatigue and… burn themselves out completely."

Tarla faltered; a frown on her face as she looked out across the water.

"I don't tell you that to scare you, Tarla," Allura said, reaching forward to touch her shoulder. "I tell you this because you should know what you’re capable of. This… _gift_ has a frighteningly destructive capability – for both your enemies and yourself. I want you to know what you are embracing. I want you to understand the consequences of pushing past the physical limitations. I want that moment to never come for you; I want you to be safe. But if it ever does, I also want you to understand fully what chaos you would surrender yourself to, so you can ensure your goal is worth the cost."

The princess frowned at the ocean before fixing her irritated gaze on the queen again.

"Trying to control the ocean would do that to me, wouldn't it?"

Allura shrugged helplessly, drawing her hand back to her side.

"It is not something I have ever attempted. Again – your body will tell you when you hit your limit and when to stop. You will fight harder against yourself to push through it than you will against your enemy. It will be a very, very conscious decision to make that payment, so you needn't worry about going too far accidentally." She gave the younger woman a reassuring smile.

"Have you ever gotten close? Have you ever hit that point where you know it's at the limit – but still wanted to go further?"

"I have."

"What would be so important to push yourself to the brink of self-sacrifice?" The heiress gazed up at the queen in open wonderment.

"My people," Allura answered simply. "I would give everything I possess, everything I am, everything I could ever be to keep them safe. It is my duty and my honor and my privilege to serve as their guardian. I will protect the people I love at any cost."

A wave crashed over them, but neither took their gaze off the other. After a moment of tense silence, Allura giggled.

"But that was a long time ago, Tarla," she added, sending a splash at the princess, unable to handle the intensity of the conversation anymore. The heiress giggled in response, using her magic to send a wave crashing over the queen. Allura cheered in delight at her use of her power.

"Can we duel?"

Allura stilled, and Lotor was quick to notice as the water around the queen's form frosted over. It didn't reach out more than a breath, but the accumulation of ice was distinct.

"What?" She whispered, hiding her emotion as best she could. A wave of her hand warmed the ice around her and she moved deliberately out of the water.

"I would like to spar with you! I would like to test my strength against a master!"

Allura felt her skin pale, but she bowed her head and nodded once. After all, it was just a playful game to the younger woman.

"Tarla, I don't think that's-"

"Very well," Allura accepted the princess's challenge, overriding Lotor's concern. "Please back up and give us space," she turned her gaze to him. He reeled from the haunted pain behind her eyes. She masked it with a quick smile and his vibrant daughter was none the wiser of the bubbling terror beneath the surface of the queen.

"She'll be fine," Allura whispered to him.

_It's not Tarla I'm worried about this time,_  he thought, backing his horse away as the two women stepped onto the shore to face off against each other. Allura smiled gently to the young princess.

"I'll let you begin when you're prepared, since you initiated the challenge," she said quietly, trying desperately to keep herself in control of her fear.


	13. Covet

Allura let the soft sand conform around her bare feet as she placed one foot behind the other, turning her profile to the fiery princess and stepped into a combat-ready position. Her arms were extended from her, fingers curled into fists as she braced to cast.

The younger woman stood on the shore across from her, her recognizable royal Drule regalia glinting in the Arusian sunlight as water droplets fell from the fabric. Her iridescent hair glimmered brilliantly as her golden gaze focused dangerously on the queen.

Allura offered a weak smile and nodded once.

"When you're ready," she reaffirmed.

"Are you going to attack me?" The princess watched her tutor as she inhaled deeply and shook her golden head once.

"No," she admitted. Tarla frowned before setting her energy on drawing fire before her. The princess focused on forming the inferno before her into a usable shape. The unruly sphere around her focused slowly into an ellipsoid in the same manner Allura had shown her days earlier.

The queen exhaled, her sky-blue eyes focusing intently on the heiress, ready to intercept her barrage. The inferno before the princess crackled and resisted her attempts to hone it into a projectile, but it eventually submitted to her will.

The instant that Tarla released the crystallized fire, Allura drew her palms in front of her body, crossing them right before her chest. The water followed her lead and a shimmering wall of ice leaped before her. The fire charge slammed into the shield and dissipated after removing a chunk of frost. Allura's eyes stayed fixated on the woman as the shield repaired itself. Ice crackled and expanded, filling the divots in the barrier.

Tarla's uncertain expression shifted into one of frightening pleasure. Allura recognized the look from Lotor in years past as the thrill of combat flooded the younger girl: she understood the sturdiness of her opponent. Allura kept her forearms crossed in front of her with her palms curled into fists as she sustained the frigid bulwark. Through the crystal-clear ice, she watched intently as Tarla summoned more fire.

She stepped backward to give herself the space to lean toward the permafrost, as if her weight would help her brace against the magical onslaught. Three fire charges slammed into her in quick succession, chinking further into the armor of the shield. Each of the projectiles buried deeper into the ice wall than the one before it, but none penetrated. Allura quickly drew upon her strength to mend the damage before Tarla released more, wincing at the strain.

The Drule princess grinned as she realized it would take an impressively large array to shatter the shield and would undoubtedly have to strike in a single assault the queen could smooth it.

Tarla _thrived_ on the challenge. Allura grimaced as the competitive light glinted in the younger woman's eyes. Her muscles tensed and her fingers curled tighter. She watched as  _six_  charges formed around the princess. For a brief moment, the queen felt a beacon of pride that the princess was capable of such mastery so quickly. Her pride quickly dissolved to concern as the pointed end of each of those charges aimed at her.

"Tarla," Lotor began, dismounting from Phantom as he watched the battle unfold before him. Allura braced against the shifting sand beneath her feet.

She cringed as she felt the fibers of her magical energy tugging at her. Her strain with her defenses against King Lotor the night prior had left her with minimal strength. Her body warned that she was at her limit, yet both pride and practicality dictated she show no weakness before the challenger. The chance of her sustaining her shield against the assault the young Drule conjured was a toss of the dice.

_You've withstood worse,_  she thought as she closed her eyes. She exhaled once, thinking back to how she had endured the destruction of her planet and how Voltron had withstood countless Drule sieges. There was still some energy left in her; she wasn't yet on the edge of collapse, but it hovered nearby, patient.

_Hold it tight._

Her eyes opened slowly and she looked across the beach toward her sparring partner with unrelenting certainty and determination.  _Push through it._

"Allura!"

The six fire charges released and raced across the ground toward her. Allura's fingers twitched and she bowed her head. Each blast slammed into her ice shield and sent snow and steam flying. Each bolt chipped away, cracking deeper through her defenses. In a moment of clarity, she realized the fifth charge would shatter the ice. Time felt slower as Allura exhaled and drew on her rapidly-waning strength to mend the shield mid-strike. A siren's wail seared through her bloodstream.

_This is the limit._  

She knew the sensation well. Allura closed her eyes when her vision blacked before her. She didn't need to see to hold the line. Her body warned her that pushing further would pull from reserves that she did not have. 

_I only need a little more,_  she bartered with herself.

Her ears rang from a sound that did not exist outside her body as it distorted everything else, and she felt her very bones ache. Her lungs burned as if she had no air while her blood ran as cold as the ice she brandished before her. Every cell in her body flared out a warning signal, begging her to stop.

Tarla watched with fascination as the wall before the queen healed itself between each rapid-fire strike. 

_Just. …A little._  

Her body shuddered as it craved collapse and her fingers went numb. Her physical form wanted to finish the fight, and Allura curled her fists tighter. 

_…more._

"How," Tarla breathed in wonderment. As the last of her barrage struck and was ultimately silenced, the glacier melted instantly. Allura fell to her knees, catching herself on the sand, allowing herself the reprieve she desperately needed. She gasped for air, blinking rapidly as her vision returned.

"That's enough," she whispered. "Well done, Tarla." She smiled weakly up at the princess already in the process of procuring more fire. She turned and pointed the charges into the ocean and released them harmlessly.

"I'm afraid I don't have the strength to duel you properly today," Allura admitted. "My energy is still lacking from yesterday evening," she explained. Tarla crossed the distance between them and sat in the sand where the queen was draped elegantly.

"Are you alright?"

Allura blinked.

"What did you ask me?"

"I asked if you felt alright – if you were well," Tarla clarified; confused that Allura stared at her in open shock.

"I… I'm fine, thank you. I just need a moment to catch my breath," she said after a second's hesitation. Tarla nodded and rose back to her feet, giving the older woman room to recover. Allura could only stare after her in fascination. She had only ever seen one other Drule in all her life show any sincere concern for her wellbeing – Lotor himself. She stared after the princess, struck by the genuine worry she revealed. Tarla had moved on, ignorant to the strange emotion she had demonstrated, and was already practicing controlling spheres of water from the ocean.

Allura startled from her trance when Lotor knelt beside her and helped ease her to her feet, allowing her to lean against him.

"It was that steam from last night that drained you, wasn't it?" He murmured quietly to her. She nodded once.

"That is not something I can comfortably control for any extended duration," she pointed out.

"Was it because it was two elements at once, or something specific about those?" His hand grasped her hip as he cradled her into his side. Allura was not one to protest in her state of exhaustion, once more allowing her frame to sag into his. She glanced across the sand to regard Tarla.

"Those, specifically. Dual-casting is difficult and draining… It's even moreso when it consists of two opposites. But fire and water, well… they… pull more from me. Water comes naturally, fire does not. Fire and nature, too, are exhausting," she added. To her own surprise, she allowed her head to fall against his chest. There was something intrinsically decadent about being held by another person, and Allura was quickly realizing just how starved for company and touch she had become in her later years.

_You should never be alone._

Her father's warning echoed in her mind. The decades had slowly peeled away her connection to humanity. She had become aloof and distant as the people closest to her moved further out. She had become numb to touch and need: Allura had always been able to recognize another's need, but never before had she been able to articulate her own.

_How cursed I am,_  she thought to herself. She turned curious eyes up at the king still supporting her weight as he watched his daughter. Her eyes traced the features of his profile lightly from the turn of his nose to the tautness of his cheekbone. The single man she should never want – the king who already had his queen and the harbinger of her destruction - and Allura was selfish enough to find comfort in his embrace. She frowned and looked away just as his eyes glanced down to her.

"How are you feeling?" His lips brushed against her ear and she couldn't stop the blush that bloomed on her face. 

_Why him?_

"Better, thank you," she answered diplomatically. She pressed off his side and attempted to drop her weight back onto her feet. She shifted and he reluctantly released her, but his hand did not leave her hip. Her muscles ached dangerously, angry at her for the undue strain she had pressed onto herself.

"Allura," he murmured quietly.

"Hm?" She glanced up to him at her name innocently, only to be snared by a smoldering gaze. "I… yes?" She whispered the last phrase, startled by his intensity.

"What are you thinking right now," he whispered, letting his hand trail up to touch her chin. A gentle flex of his finger and he was staring down right into her eyes.

"Nothing," she said quickly. He carefully lowered his face to hers until their noses touched.

"Is that so?"

"My mind is blank right now," she admitted honestly. He paused before closing the distance between them once more. Allura's palm touched the center of his chest and he stilled. Her breath was warm and sweet on his lips, her own barely brushing his as she whispered.

"We can't keep doing this in front of Tarla."

His eyelids fell closed and he released a frustrated noise. Allura giggled softly as his exhale tickled her face and caused the wispy strands of her hair to flare out. With an aggravated groan, he pulled back from her only to find a strange smile on her lips.

The queen glanced over quickly to find Tarla looking intently at a large sphere of water she had conjured.

_Good, she's distracted,_  Allura thought, glancing back to Lotor with a knowing smile. She shook her golden head once.

"So, you don't like swimming?"

"I never cared much for it until I met a woman with an affinity for water," he said as he fixed his eyes back out across the ocean. Allura blushed and tucked some of her hair behind her ear demurely. Tarla's words from the night before echoed in her mind.

_'Would you give him a chance now?'_

Allura nibbled on her bottom lip thoughtfully.  _It would seem that I do not have a choice in that matter,_ she thought with a fresh blush before returning her eyes back to the water as well.

* * *

Tarla couldn't help the smile on her lips as she studied the reflection in the orb she held in her palm. The crystal-clear water made the perfect reflecting surface; the conjured shape mirroring what was happening over her shoulder.

_What am I hoping for, exactly?_  She frowned, letting the water fall back to the sea. She watched the clouds on the horizon. The planet she found herself on was utterly fascinating. The air was warm, the water was fresh, and the sky was clear. Clouds occasionally littered the heavens, and stars stretched out in every possible direction at night.

It was no surprise to her that Grandfather had coveted the planet. It was both beautiful and bountiful. From what she knew of its faithful ruler, it was of equally little wonder Father had coveted  _her._  She was gentle and fierce, terrifying and compassionate. Tarla swallowed, drawing her hands to her chest.

_She defies everything I understand._

And yet nothing about the current Drule Queen was appealing. While the woman was the hallmark of her legacy, Tarla couldn't stand her.  _Am I flawed? Shouldn't I both respect and aspire to be like Queen Merla?_

The princess turned slowly to look over her shoulder at the odd couple behind her. Allura was staring up at the clouds in open wonderment and her father couldn't take his eyes off the woman beside him, a similar expression of awe gracing his face as well.

_And yet…_

She exhaled, folding her hands in front of her.

"Is something wrong?"

Tarla blinked; Allura's eyes had fallen from the sky and she regarded the princess with open concern. Several strides later she had left Lotor's side and approached her.

"Tired, I suppose," Tarla hedged. Allura nodded sagely.

"Today was supposed to be our rest day, remember?" She wagged a finger at her playfully. "If we push ourselves too hard, we won't get to have a day of real practice soon. Let's be careful, okay, and conserve our strength. Perhaps we can do another lesson tomorrow if you would like."

Allura smiled genuinely at the younger girl and Tarla could only nod.

"Yes," she agreed. "It's so hard though! I want to play with it, learn it and master it!"

The Arusian laughed gently.

"I know. It's easy to try and play a little when we have some of our energy restored, but we will never be able to truly unleash our strength and push our limits if we don't let it recover properly. It's difficult, but one more day won't be so bad, would it?"

"I suppose not," Tarla pouted playfully. She fixed Allura with a knowing smile before lightly splashing water at her. "So how are you and Father getting along?"

Allura's face flushed crimson and she mutely turned away from the giggling princess to find where her horse had wandered off to. Stardust was further down the beach near Ray and with practiced slowness, Allura retrieved them both. Phantom had not wandered far from where Lotor had dismounted.

"Would you like to stay here on the beach or go somewhere else?" She returned to Tarla with both horses, ignoring the previous question entirely. The princess could only grin at her in response before seriously contemplating her answer. She glanced to the sky and the sun overhead.

"Perhaps back to the castle," she said after a moment. "It's quite warm out and I think I'm getting hungry."

Allura nodded once and handed Ray's reins back to the girl before mounting Stardust. She looked over in time to see Lotor throw a powerful thigh over Phantom's back and settle into the saddle himself. She froze, a blush staining her cheeks as the mental image of sitting in front of him shattered her train of thought.  _Where in the six heavens did that come from?_

A violent shake of her head cleared the unwanted daydream and she spurred Stardust to a trot and began leading the way back up the sandbank. The queen was careful not to push her horse too quickly in the soft sand, worried he might lose his footing. Once he cleared the dune and stepped onto sturdier earth, Allura nudged him faster and allowed him to break into a gentle canter. Lotor was not far behind her and quickly covered the remaining distance.

Ray, by contrast, burst past them both at full speed once he, too, was on solid ground. Tarla let out a vibrant cheer as the speedy steed covered the distance between the beach and the Castle of Lions. Allura could only toss her head back and laugh quietly at her enthusiasm.

Allura continually found herself genuinely startled by how truly  _alive_  she felt. In the past few days she had experienced more excitement and hope than she had in decades. The irony of who brought it to her was not lost to the queen. She sighed and smiled softly at her strange, new situation.

A stablehand approached Tarla as the princess dismounted near the castle, far ahead of the trailing couple. Lotor and Allura covered the distance between them efficiently, mirroring the energetic child's actions. As they entered, Allura called for a meal to be prepared and showed her guests to the dining hall.

* * *

Allura watched as Tarla devoured the stacks of books around her. She hovered in the doorway as the sun set outside, throwing the expansive library into a soft red hue through the large windows. The princess eagerly combed the stacks, drawing tome after tome from the shelves. Once her arms became full, she set them on a table before returning to collect more. Lotor brushed past Allura to enter the room and inspect the volumes his daughter had chosen. He snorted.

"Do you even know how long it took me to hide this," he murmured, lifting a book and flashing the cover to Allura. It was a compendium on all known battles that Voltron and the robot lions had engaged in.

"Would you rather she didn't know? She wants to learn," she said with a shrug. She watched him quietly from the doorway as he set the book back down on the table. All the volumes she had procured were related to combat or to Voltron, specifically. His eyes fixed on her.

"I want you safe," he murmured, striding across the room to where she lingered. Allura stiffened and her back bumped against the doorframe.

"She's already here, Lotor. Even if I stopped teaching her now, she knows enough. Why hide anything? Besides, it's not like there are any schematics included in the volumes, just history."

He stood before her, studying her features closely. She blushed and as she looked away, his fingers caught her jaw. With a delicate turn, her eyes were back on his.

"Allura," he murmured. To his frustration, he found himself reverting to her name when he didn't know what else to say.

"I don't know where we go from here," she admitted. His other hand came up to brush her cheek gently as Tarla's voice piped up from the background.

"You could give me a history lesson!"

Allura turned bright red in Lotor's hands, but the king only chuckled darkly before turning his attention back to his daughter.

"Of-of course," Allura stammered, attempting to step around the king. His hand slipped to her waist and he caught her snugly, pulling her against him. Her eyes widened with a gasp at the brazen move, especially in front of the young girl.

"I, too, am curious," he whispered in her ear, his lips rustling her hair. With a lazy tug, he pulled her across the library to the chairs and sofas circling a fireplace.

"Lotor, what are you- you can't just bully me around!" She protested his insistence and released an undignified noise as he settled into half a loveseat and promptly pulled her down next to him. His strong arm settled across her lap as he arrogantly pinned her to him.

She squirmed.

"Beast," she muttered, finally giving up with a huff and crossing her arms over her chest in pouting frustration.

"Says the woman who could impale me on a glacial saber if she really didn't like what I was doing," he muttered smoothly, just loud enough for her to hear. She turned red and snorted once more.

"That wouldn't be very hospitable of me," she pointed out flatly. She looked over as Tarla settled into an armchair across from the unlikely couple. Allura turned a deeper shade of crimson as she caught the knowing look in the heiress's eyes. She tried to hide the smile just under the surface of her expression and feign indifference, but the light behind her gaze was unmistakable. The queen exhaled through her teeth, attempting to look as bored as she possibly could as the bully king held her form hostage against his.

"What would you like to know, Tarla? I can – Lotor would you  _stop,_ " she hissed over her shoulder at him as he lazily stroked her hair while she tried to carry on a conversation with Tarla.

He chuckled.

With everything that had come to light and his daughter's seemingly open acceptance of Allura, he had little to hide and was thirsty to indulge in the woman any chance he could. Her voice, her scent, her body and her mind enthralled him endlessly.

"I want to know how it all came to be. Where did it start? How did… where did the idea come from to build something as amazing as…" She trailed off and pointed to an oil painting on a wall. Five shimmering cats arced through the sky with a god-like halo behind them.

"Ah," Allura nodded in understanding. "My father made them," she began. Tarla nodded.

"I know. I want to know what happened before that. How did he even have the idea to begin with? It's such a colossal force, and it seems very complex. It has to do with the magic, right? That's what powers it," she said. She sat back and eagerly watched the older woman with fascination.

"I'll admit that it's not something I understand entirely," she admitted.

"I'm more curious about where his inspiration came from," Tarla clarified. "Who just thinks to build a massive robot based on magic?"

Allura giggled softly.

"I rather think it started off as a way to practice, but it consumed him," she explained softly. "He –  _Lotor,_ " she hissed as he nipped at her earlobe. " _Enough._ "

"Later then," he promised darkly, leaning back into the loveseat but not relinquishing his grasp on Allura. He was a man dying in a desert and she was an oasis. Allura rolled her eyes, but promptly returned her smile to Tarla's mischievous expression.

"I rather think that… that he," she stammered slightly as Lotor traced a lazy circle on her hip with his palm discreetly. "I think that you and I are in the unique situation," she continued, fighting down the flush of heat. "We have the opportunity to practice with another person. He did not have that. I did not have that either at the time, as I learned," she admitted. "I rather believe he spent years trying to use different combinations of elements, learning what worked together and what didn't. I think his goal was to use all five at once. But… he couldn't. After many failures, he decided to try and create something else that could in his stead. He was alone. He had no one to learn from, just the infusion itself."

"Neither did you, though, right," Tarla asked, watching the woman before her. "You said you wished you had been able to talk with your father the way you and I talk now. You had to learn on your own, as well."

Allura smiled at the intellectual quickness of the woman.

"You are correct. My father was long lost from this plane when I recognized the magic in myself. I was able to commune with him somewhat, but I never had a teacher."

"Commune? Oh! The catacombs!" Tarla cried out in surprise, pulling on a strand of information Allura had delivered to her nights earlier.

"You still speak with him?" It was Lotor's turn to pose a question. "Here I thought that was a one-time shot with the old witch." She glanced up to the king at her side and nodded briefly.

"Yes. I haven't spoken with him as much since Arus found peace – most of my unrest was over wartime governance – but on occasion I still do."

"Would… would you ask him how he came to make Voltron, when you speak with him again? Is that possible?" Tarla's voice piped up from across the room and Allura turned her gaze on her. Her expression remained cryptic and thoughtful for far longer than the princess was comfortable with.

"Would you like to ask him yourself?" Allura's question stunned both the Drules and even caught herself by surprise with the offer. No one outside the castle's inner circle had ever been to the tomb before.

_As of now, that's only me,_  she thought to herself sadly.

"I… I'm not sure," Tarla admitted.

"I'll introduce you," she offered.

"I will think on it. In the meantime…" She trailed off as her excitement mounted, flipping open one of the large volumes.

"I think I may retire then," Allura announced as her muscles agreed with her. The effort from the day's sparring match had etched into her.

"I'll join you," Lotor's smooth voice spoke up from behind her as she rose to her feet and he reluctantly released her. She scowled at him.

"You are uncouth, insatiable and an absolute scoundrel," she commented darkly.

"I know." He grinned lazily at her and she felt her face flush.

"You can't just invite yourself to a woman's bed!"

"So, stop me," he challenged. Allura felt her blood chill when she realized that, at the heart of the truth, she didn't want to stop him. She glanced subtly to Tarla who conveniently had her nose buried in a book pointedly.

"Goodnight, Tarla," Allura offered, ignoring the girl's father entirely as she stepped out of the room. Lotor had never been one to be deterred and much to Tarla's amusement, he trailed after the timeless queen. She lowered the book from in front of her face and grinned delightfully at the new developments. The princess relaxed back into her armchair and began to look over the volume before her in earnest, but the ink blurred as her attention and mood shifted, as she reflected back to the magnificent woman that had come into her life recently. Her impish excitement melted to annoyance as the practicality of everything blossomed.

She sighed in frustration, burying her face in her palm at the impossibilities before her.

"How unfair," she murmured.


	14. Subzero

"You have a basic understanding," Allura was commenting as she pushed open the door to a chamber inside the castle. "Today, we begin refining the details," she said, grinning over her shoulder at the spirited princess following right behind her.

"What in the…" Tarla trailed off as she stepped into the room, going ahead of Allura as she indicated. The queen walked in to stand behind her and looked around proudly at her stage.

"I've prepared five rooms in the castle, each focuses on a different element. It won't be impossible to use the others, as the energy comes from you, ultimately. But I wanted to encourage bonding with each unique aspect of the craft." Allura stepped around Tarla and strode gracefully into the center of the chamber that could only be described as a room of fire.

Sconces littered the walls, glittering with open incandescence. Flames danced in hearths in each of the corners of the room, and the couple walked on reinforced glass that appeared to have lava coursing underneath it. A heated breeze associated with bellows rolled lazily around the room as a deep heat radiated from the floor, the chamber pulsing in a deep orange hue.

"I thought we would start with the element that comes most naturally to you," she explained.

Tarla nodded mutely, her hair fluttering around her in the breeze generated by the heat current.

"What if the floor breaks?"

"It won't. It's made of reinforced, high-grade particle glass. It could withstand ballistic strikes from Voltron. …I …I've even tested it. And even if it did – like I said, you don't need a source to use an element. Having it just makes it easier." Allura demonstrated her point by dropping to a knee suddenly, slamming her palm into the glassy floor. Ice rolled across the top of the clear base, chilling the room considerably as Allura channeled her strength to counteract the furious element surrounding them. She stood up gracefully and the ice instantly melted to water before evaporating without her energy to sustain its presence.

"I think get it," the princess replied thoughtfully. "What would you like to see?"

"Whatever feels most natural," Allura began. She was dressed in an outfit Tarla had seen only once before on the woman – it was a pink jumpsuit, a white belt around her waist and matching boots on her feet. Her hands remained bare for ease of channeling the magic, and her hair was bundled up on top of her head. She pointed across the room, the ruffled sleeves falling against her wrists.

Tarla tore her eyes from the queen to see what appeared to be a heavily reinforced suit of armor. It had been filled with metal to weigh it down and the eyeless helmet glared across the room at the two women. It brandished a shield in its hand protectively in front of its body.

"I want to see how quickly you can take that to pieces – by any means necessary," she finished. Tarla glanced back to the blonde woman and Allura smiled gently at her.

"Where's Father?"

"I invited him to join us. I think he's catching up with your mother first. When you're ready, unless you'd prefer to wait for him," she nodded to the girl.

Tarla paused and glanced over to Allura, her silvery hair rustling in the heat current.

"You don't like her," she said flatly. Allura could only shrug noncommittally.

"Rather, I don't think she cares for me. I've never been opposed to a friendship with your parents, Tarla. Lotor was… interested in something else and I think Merla just wanted me out of the way. Neither were particularly inclined to become friendly in the truest sense of the word."

"From what I understand, Father very much wanted that," Tarla murmured playfully, eliciting a scowl from the queen.

"Just shoot the thing," she encouraged, gesturing toward the suit of armor. She quickly attributed the rising blush on her skin to the heat in the room. Tarla kept her gaze on the queen just long enough to make the slender woman shift uncomfortably beneath it. She granted the Arusian her reprieve and looked back to the armor.

"Could I just scream at it and see what happens?" She eyed all the fire around thoughtfully. Allura blinked.

"Yes, you could. Ultimately, though, we will need to refine the technique to control it better. But… that's as good of a starting place as any… I will sequester myself in the corner with a water shield if you decide to do so," she said with a laugh. "I would be curious to see what you can come up with." Allura turned and stepped back from the girl, placing herself in a corner.

"Could it really be that great?"

"Tarla, fire is your element; it is your inherent nature. You conjured a ball of it around you when there was no source. What do you think you could accomplish within a room like this?" Her hands outstretched from her torso, gesturing to the plentitude of the subject.

"Will it hurt me?"

"No, you will be fine. You are the conjurer," Allura reassured her.

"… _could_  it hurt me?"

Allura began to answer her question quickly but paused to consider the true uncertainty behind the inquisition.

"It could. You would have to be very, very conscious with that directive. As it is an extension of your emotional shell, of, quite literally, that which is you – it will not, by nature, do harm to you. In much the same way we can break our own bones with a self-inflicted punch or draw our own blood, it would be an act of pure, focused intention. Not by chance, no. You will be safe." The queen smiled at the girl, folding her arms in front of her. Tarla stared at her in wonderment for a moment longer before nodding resolutely.

"I shall warcry then, I wish to see what the limit is. Prepare your shields." The Drule turned to face the suit of armor and Allura could only smile faintly. The younger girl embodied so much of her father; it often left the Queen reeling. At her command, Allura brought forth a multi-layered protection field.

She bubbled herself inside a sphere of fire, the flames roaring around her, soaking up the oxygen on the surface of the dome. Her own flames insulted her from the burn and prevented the spread of outside fire by devouring the immediate fuel source.

Beneath the shell of heat, Allura draped herself in a cooling mist as a second layer of protection. Her skin, hair and clothing quickly became drenched to prevent inflammation in contingency of Tarla's fire ripping through her own.

At her fingertips, a pool of energy formed, pressurized ice ready to entomb her as a last resort. She exhaled, preparing for the exertion that came from sustaining two counter-elements at once.  _This is unsafe,_  she cautioned herself.  _Standing in the crucible with her like this. She's beaten you once next to your own element. Why throw yourself into hers?_

"I was weakened," she whispered with determination, watching as Tarla took a combative stance and stretched her arms out around her. She inhaled deeply, preparing her warsong.

The queen braced.

A latch turned.

Time slowed as Allura turned to look over her shoulder.

Tarla's call to arms erupted from her lips the same instant the door swung open.

On pure, adrenaline-filled instinct, the queen flung the pre-coalesced frost shield at Lotor.

The room exploded into an inferno around her and Allura found herself in the magically-taxing position of holding only a sphere of fire around her with one hand and sustaining a wall of frost around Lotor with the other.

The ice barrier had been purely instinctive. The frost was by far the stronger of the two shields, and she had little concern that he would be unsafe as light, heat and flames consumed the room, swirling violently around the slender woman in the center. The meager fire shell around the Arusian, however, left much to be desired.

Fire was her antithesis and by extension, her weakest point. Moreover, the very nature of fire against fire further limited her ability to protect herself.

Within seconds, the temperature rose hot enough that the armor itself began to soften and deform. The water on Allura's body had long evaporated, and after a cursory check to make sure the wall of snow still stood strong, she pulled more energy into the shell swirling around her own body. While it shielded her from the flames, it offered marginal protection from the temperature.

She winced.

Breathing became more difficult.

She trembled and closed her eyes against the embers, unable to handle the drying effect of the temperature behind her eyelids. She focused everything she had on keeping the dome around her sustained as the thin veil of flame was the only thing protecting her from the furnace.

Without warning, the warsong on Tarla's lips stopped and the crucible died nearly as quickly as it began.

Allura gasped for air as the temperature cooled and before the princess turned around, she defrosted the ice wall around the girl's father.

Lotor stood in the doorway looking struck at the sight before him. Tarla faced a near-liquid puddle of armor on the ground and Allura was doubled over in the corner, hands on her knees, her own flame-sphere still circling her body. It dissipated quickly as she struggled to catch her breath.

The princess turned to her mentor quickly.

"How was that? What did you – unholy dark gods, are you alright?" She moved to the woman just as Allura righted herself.

"Of course, why?"

"Your… your hair…"

Allura reached up and touched her bun on her head, realizing quickly that the ends around her face were smoldering slightly, ignited purely by the high temperature.

"It's fine," she said gently. "That was magnificent, by the way. You show such strength. The hardest part, I believe, will be for you to learn to control the power. It will be hard, fire is… wild," she added. "It will resist your call to bind it. It is at its most powerful when it can freely consume and burn – but don't worry. It can both be tamed and still unleashed."

Tarla nodded and reached forward, touching Allura's wrist. The queen glanced down and noticed as one of the frills on her sleeve had also burned.

"Nothing to worry about."

Lotor strode into the room, watching his daughter with swelling pride, his eyes flitting over the queen's form in concern. She smiled warmly at them both.

"Is there a water room?" Tarla eyed Allura eagerly. "I want to see yours!  Again!"

Allura blinked at the familiar request.

"Yes, we can go there next if you like. Don't you want to practice more with fire?" she said. The princess shook her head once and bounded eagerly toward the door.

Allura laughed quietly and began to follow behind her until Lotor stilled her with a touch to her elbow. She paused and looked at him curiously.

"You gave me the stronger of your shields," he murmured, out of earshot of Tarla. "I _saw_ what you did."

"Yes," she acknowledged quietly.

"And you got hurt because you did not have it for yourself." He brushed his thumb over her reddened cheek and chapped bottom lip.

"Technically. Not badly, however. But… please don’t tell her," she admonished. "This craft can be… inherently dangerous to those around us. You saw it firsthand when it initially manifested, from the sound of it.  In your study? She needs to know – to believe – that she is in total dominion over it without question. Otherwise she will _never_ be able to control it. If she wavers and begins to become concerned about causing harm to people or things accidentally, she will second-guess herself. She needs that confidence to practice without worry. At least at first," she added.

"Caution can come later. I took a calculated risk by staying in the room with her, but I wanted to see what she could do. …I didn't expect you to finish with Merla so quickly, or we would have waited. …I'm… I'm pleased that it didn't catch you, Lotor."

"She… might be coming to visit," he hedged carefully. Allura quirked an eyebrow.

"Should I be worried?"

"No, she wants to see Tarla. At any rate, I'll protect you."

Allura frowned.

"It's fine if she wants to visit. Just as long as she doesn't try to hurt anyone."

"She won't. Are we going to see your explosion next?"

"Fortunately, my raw strength isn't… quite as… volatile," she said playfully. "Neither of you should need shields. Mine will likely manifest one around me, to be honest. Now come," she finished gently, lacing her arm though his and dragging him from the torch-lit room.

Tarla waited patiently in the hallway as Allura rounded the corner with the girl's father in tow.

"He was being difficult," she explained to the woman conspiratorially. Lotor grumbled in annoyance as his daughter giggled in response, falling into step beside the queen.

Lotor glanced over as they strode down the hallway, Allura's arms snaked through his with his daughter flanking her other side. A single word struck him in a way he never expected when Allura laughed at something Tarla had said. A word that bundled many others together – loyalty, pride, honor, integrity, blood… and affection; a word he never thought he would covet.

_Family._

The foreign thought left him feeling numb.

* * *

Tarla ran laps around the room, fascinated by the chamber Allura had created to represent her own natural element. Allura stood near Lotor just inside the door. The entryway housed an arched piece of floor tile from which the rest of the floor dropped away several inches. The decorative tile was the only piece of dry land in the room.

Water was even with the landing, leaving a shallow depth everywhere; save the very center. A bowl-shaped pit plunged several feet, lending itself to much larger volume. Where fireplaces graced each of the four corners in the fire room, waterfalls rolled down the four walls, creating light ripples and a soft noise.

Soft, calming blue light underlit the floor and backlit the falls, surrendering the room to a tranquil, relaxing setting.

Tarla came to a stop near them, pausing to catch her breath as she tired from kicking up the shallow water. Allura smiled gently and nodded to both.

A flaming blush colored her cheeks when she realized she still held Lotor’s arm and she promptly dropped it, eliciting a smirk from his lips.

"Show me!" Tarla bounced up and down excitedly, yet the command was not lost on the queen.

"Very well," she nodded before striding into the water. With careful steps, she moved toward the pit in the center of the room and paused to stare down into it.

Allura struggled for a moment, attempting to settle on an emotion to focus on to draw out her power.

The previous demonstration beside the moat had been a cry of broken fury. It was a wild explosion of unleashed power. Allura decided that perhaps a different sort of demonstration was in order, to better explain the finer details of elemental manipulation.

She took a chance.

Drawing her arms in close to her body, she opened her heart and allowed her pain to consume her.

Memories filtered through, long-stored recollections that had been sequestered by time came flooding forward. A tortuous dichotomy flooded her chest without warning; Allura felt a warmth and happiness as time rolled backwards, coupled against the chilling coldness as she realized it was not hers to ever possess again. It was merely a ghost.

A memory.

A phantasm.

_An eidolon._

The stoic queen surprised both Drules with her reaction to the pain.

She did not scream nor cry.

Instead, she remained silent.

Allura's slender frame arched backward as her knees buckled before she crashed into the shallow water. Her palms rested on the ground as she sat, doubled over in the liquid-filled room.

As ice flooded her veins and solidified her heart, the droplets from the basin that splashed from her collapse froze mid-air. Her voice was silent and her head bowed over.

She simply inhaled deeply and allowed the pain to consume her.

The temperature in the room dropped suddenly.

Tarla stepped closer to her father as she frowned, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder.

"Is this… sorrow? How is it so… so powerful," she whispered, looking up at the man. He shook his head once, a similar expression of concern on his face.

"I suppose it depends on the person who wields it."

"She hasn't even made a sound…"

She glanced around as a thin layer of frost formed on top of the water, even around Allura's legs. It crackled as it shifted and expanded, stretching out in snowflake-like patterns, until a thin sheet coated all the room.

A single teardrop rolled from Allura's cheek and fell against the ice in front of her.

As it struck, an explosion in another part of the room sounded, causing Tarla to jump. Lotor's palm on her shoulder tightened protectively at the noise.

Water sprang from beneath the ice without warning and immediately froze into a haunting sculpture.

The queen slowly raised her head and stared at the waterfall across the room, her eyes vague and no longer of the present world.

Droplets continued to form in the corner of her eyes before falling to the floor, unnoticed. Each drop created another spectacular display of frozen water somewhere in the room around her. Her bottom lip trembled, and her skin grew paler.

Allura held her silence and her breathing began to slow. She did not gasp nor weep nor moan – the only noise in the silent room was the violent crack of ice expanding and forming.

"Father, look! The statues – they're not just splashes… they're… _people_!"

Lotor tore his eyes from the shattered woman before him to study her craft. Sure as the dawn over Arus, the frozen waterspouts had condensed in a way to make humanoid-like manifestations. The water coating the floor of the room had frozen solid and Tarla carefully made her way out onto the slick surface to investigate.

"They're beautiful," she murmured, pausing in front of one. The statue was of a young man in a battle-like pose, staring valiantly across the room with raw determination, his sword drawn in front of him. There were several other statues, each formed from a unique tear.

Tarla stared at the most recent one; a plump, older woman, dressed like a maid. Fear etched deep into the matron's eyes as her form physically recoiled away from something in front of her. The princess blinked and turned back to the swordsman, reaching up to touch his icy cheek in fascination.

"What are we looking at, Father?"

Lotor walked further into the room, his face carefully clouded as he looked over all the immaculate ghosts haunting the queen. Each form appeared to have been chiseled by a master from a single, solid block of ice with smooth perfection and life-like detail from the flutter of an eyelash to the strands of hair.

"The past," he said quietly as another sculpture sprang up behind the swordsman that had captivated Tarla's gaze.

The princess recognized the most recent addition was a younger representation of the queen herself. Allura's likeness was watching the swordsman with fondness, but he did not see her as he looked out across an unseen battlefield.

"It's all one picture," she murmured breathlessly, turning in a circle. Tarla realized the sculptures were not singular entities that the queen created to demonstrate the finer power of mastery – they were simply smaller pieces of a singular whole. She reeled at the level of expertise required to craft such a display.

The last tear hit the ice and Tarla gasped when an illusion spawned behind the younger Allura: a tall man with a haunted gaze, his eyes locked on the then-princess as she looked forward. While her arms were openly reaching for the swordsman that did not see her, his in turn, were reaching out toward her.

"Father… that's…  _you_!"

Allura blinked a few times, a clouded exhale leaving her lips as she came back to reality. The remaining liquid in the corners of her eyes solidified in the low temperature of the room.

"I miss them all," she whispered.

Lotor said nothing as he circled the frost replica of his younger self, frowning at the sadistic look on his own face. Steps forward brought him to gaze upon a wide-eyed and hopeful princess of the past as she stared longingly after her commander in combat.

He recognized the shadows of the rest of the space explorers surrounding the room.

A moment in time, a single frame of a battle, preserved in ice and emblazoned in her memory. Lotor could almost picture where the lions were standing in the background as he remembered the day she had recalled so perfectly.

The littlest one – Pidge, was using his pistol to provide cover fire for Lance who was mid-stride to Keith's side. Off in the distance, there were robot soldiers advancing toward the Castle of Lions.

"Allura," Lotor began, but stopped, unsure what else to say.

What else he _could_ say.

He glanced over to where she was still knelt in what was once water.

He blinked.

"You're freezing," he observed, striding over to her. The ice circled her body, freezing her legs and knees into it, binding her to the frozen lake of her own making. Her skin was near-white and her lips blue, her body trembling from the temperature.

"I'm fine," she whispered, her breath a mere cloud of condensation.

"No, you are not," he replied angrily.

"I don't actually feel a thing right now, Lotor," she murmured.  Glassy eyes slowly raise to fix on him. "It's… kind of…  _nice._ "

Silence echoed in the room as Tarla tore her eyes from the human male who caught her attention. She looked over to Allura's back. Her eyes glanced between her father regarded the shivering queen and the ice-Lotor's pursuit of ice-Allura. She backpedaled slowly on the ice to see the larger picture.

"You loved him," Tarla whispered.

Allura's eyes widened, still staring up into Lotor’s vacantly.  A pained noise left her throat.

"I thought I did.  …I thought I understood what that meant.  …Keith and I are nothing.  We never were." Her voice cracked the same way the ice did around her.

Tarla walked in slow circles around what she quickly recognized as a dangerous love triangle. A princess chasing a commander; and a prince reaching for a princess.

"And Father loved _you_ ," she continued to observe from the expressions on the faces around her. Tarla was quick to recognize that the facial expressions were so spectacularly detailed… not because they were imaginary, but because they were a  _memory_.

"Disperse this all," Lotor commanded suddenly as he knelt beside her.  Her time-lost gaze followed him. His thumb touched her cheek, tracing over a frozen tear streak. She smiled weakly back.

"I…" Her lip trembled, an alarming shade of white in the cold room, much like the rest of her skin. He briefly reveled in just how  _blue_  her eyes appeared in contrast.

"Do it." He watched as her haunted, faraway gaze clouded over after moment and she glared at him in defiance. "This is history. Return it there."

Lotor couldn't even say that he minded when the ice beneath his knees vanished suddenly and he found his legs soaked without warning as he knelt in water. He heard Tarla's gasp as the statues returned to liquid, and the room returned to its original state of flowing water.

Carefully, Allura pushed up from the water, droplets falling from her body with Lotor right behind her. Her legs trembled as her body began thawing and her muscles ached.

"I'm afraid I might need a moment before we continue, Tarla, I apologize," she said, reaching up to touch her forehead. "I believe I've gone and done it again."

Lotor's arm was around her waist as he helped her back to the door.

"We're going to the fire room to warm you up," he instructed.

"No, that's not necessary," she insisted, though her body still shivered. "I need to keep working with Tarla, I just need-"

"-To go back where it's warm. At least until your temperature is normalized," he argued.

She frowned at him.

"No, I really- _Lotor!_ " Her sentence as cut off with an indignant cry as his arm dropped from her waist to her hips, his other circling her back before lifting her into his arms effortlessly. Without another word, he kicked the door open and physically hauled the woman down the hallway to the chamber of fire.

"Put me down!"

"I will," he promised as she struggled.

"Right now!"

"We're almost there."

"Lotor, I swear…" She trailed off, her anger melting into a soft laugh as he nudged open the door and carefully eased her before one of the hearths. "You're incorrigible."

"I'll take that compliment," he said, glancing over as Tarla followed in behind them, watching the interaction between the two adults curiously.

"Allura," the girl began moving toward where she had settled onto the floor before the fireplace. The golden-haired queen glanced over at the younger woman curiously.

"Yes, Tarla?"

"…When I was conjuring the fire, you promised it wouldn't hurt me. And it didn't."

Allura smiled darkly, sensing where the line of questioning was headed. Still, she waited patiently for her to articulate it.

"…why did the ice hurt _you_?"

The queen grinned at her sharpness.

"Because I wanted it to," she whispered in reply.

Tarla's golden eyes widened in surprise. Allura looked away, already considering the answer to the questions the Drule didn't know how to ask. "Your… baseline…" she hedged the word carefully for lack of a better way to describe the fundamental level of power thrumming through them. "Is anger. Do you not think of something that makes you furious when you cry to conjure?"

"I… …I do," the princess murmured in realization. Allura cast her a gentle smile, unburdened by the fact she sat in the center of her own weakness. Kneeling before a fire, she warmed herself from her own actions and bared her deepest emotions before two people who arguably should never know of them.

Allura exhaled.  What more did she have to hide?

"Mine is pain, Tarla. I  _hurt._  My heart aches, my soul bleeds… Did you notice the first day, by the moat… some of the icicles pointed back at me? Part of my strength comes from my pain. I have seen… much. I have endured _more_. It is… in my case, natural and easy for my own magic to do me harm. It is… most likely the reason my magic didn't manifest until much later in my life… once I had lost everyone. Yours is very outward-focused, so please don't feel alarmed. You would have to completely alter your mindset to hurt yourself. You are safe, I promise you this."

"How many others have you promised that to?" Tarla's eyes narrowed on the queen warily.

A shadow passed over Allura's eyes.

"Many."

"And how many were actually safe?"

The queen waited several, heavy seconds before answering her slowly with deep promise, her gaze never leaving Tarla’s.

" _All of them_."

The Drule's eyes widened.

"How is that possible?"

"My word is my law," Allura explained gently. "If my oath means nothing, then what is my word as a ruler? I make very, very few promises because I keep every single one. If I promise you that you are safe, dear Tarla, you are safe. No force in any heaven or hell will harm you. I will take bullets, move mountains and cleave beasts in two to keep you from harm. _That_ is my promise to you."

"Allura," Lotor's voice was deep and raspy as the ramifications of what she was saying settled on him. The details didn't slip by Tarla, either.

"And what if I attack you, then?"

The queen flinched, confirming Tarla's belief that Allura had been concerned with the idea from the beginning.

"You'll win," she replied simply. "I will fight you, but you… …you out match me in skill, predisposition and strength," the queen admitted to her at last.

"But you're so strong," Tarla commented, coming to sit beside the woman near the fireplace.

"And you are – or will be – stronger still," she promised back. "I have had the luxury of time to practice. Measuring myself at your age against you – I am nothing. This is the kind of skill that only strengthens with time, both with power and precision," she added.

Tarla remained quiet, sitting next to the magnificent queen as the firelight behind her threw her into a halo.

"You've survived so long."

"On pure determination. I did not win my wars with this magic. It came later to me when I had the time to breathe… to meditate... to _mourn_. I won my wars on pure adrenaline and conviction. Nothing more," she smiled, her eyes flickering briefly to the chiseled, impassive face of the king before looking back to his daughter.

"And you'll teach me all of that?"

"If you like, yes."

"You're taking a risk with this all, aren't you?"

"Every decision has a risk, Tarla. With every decision, we pause. We weigh the consequences against the rewards. And then we choose."

"What are you choosing?" Her eyes met Allura's with unflinching determination.

"To take a chance," she said with a faint smile. "On the chance that maybe we could be friends someday, Tarla. I daresay I've never had a friend from your planet before."

"You've had me," Lotor's voice thundered from behind her and Allura's weary tolerance snapped.

"I had someone who saw something he wanted and did everything he could to take it. That is not a friend," she shot back dangerously. The man quieted and watched her carefully. Allura smiled, looking back to Tarla.

"I think good things could come of this, truly. But – I do not do this because I expect that in return. I expect nothing. And I know that without proper guidance, this… craft can destroy us. It can be violent, it can be painful, and it can be consuming. I would _never_ have turned you away. I will always help someone if I am able to."

Lotor exhaled, causing Allura to tilt her gaze up at him.

"I'm sorry, I was a bit cruel just then," she apologized. "You did something… unfathomable for me, and I had no idea. That was wrong of me to snap at you."

"No, you were correct," he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers lightly. "You're exactly right – you had no idea. And… to be honest. I… was an ass," he admitted, reflecting on the dangerous look that haunted Allura's memories of his old self.

She blinked.

A moment ticked.

Allura erupted into a storm of giggles, utterly shattering the somber setting.

Tarla stared at the woman in surprise as her laugher escalated, building on itself and the gnawing, nervous tension that had been flooding her veins.

Lotor rolled his eyes.

"It's not  _that_ funny," he muttered, but the relieved smirk on his lips didn't escape Tarla's observation.

As her fit calmed and she caught her breath, she flashed her warm expression to Tarla and smiled openly.

"Want to try another room? See what you can do with earth, for instance?" Her eyes twinkled brightly as the princess showed her first hint of doubt.

"I've never used that one before, even accidentally," she articulated.

"I know. It's brand new. Isn't that wonderful and exciting?" The queen pushed off the ground carefully, rising to her feet as her bones finished thawing. Lotor was quick to her side.

"Careful," he nearly commanded, catching her hip with his palm.

"I'm fine now," she muttered back at him.

"Can we… go outside instead?" Tarla shot Allura a curious look. "I… I'm rather fond of being outside on your planet," she admitted shyly. The Arusian clasped her hands together and nodded excitedly at her.

"Of course. There's plenty of earth to work with outside, too. Come, come," she gestured, leading the way out of the inferno room. Tarla was quick to follow, but Lotor lingered back, a concerned expression remaining on his face.


End file.
